Anticipatory Control of Approach and Avoidance: An Ideomotor Approach

This article reviews evidence suggesting that the cause of approach and avoidance behavior lies not so much in the presence (i.e., the stimulus) but, rather, in the behavior’s anticipated future consequences (i.e., the goal): Approach is motivated by the goal to produce a desired consequence or end-state, while avoidance is motivated by the goal to prevent an undesired consequence or endstate. However, even though approach and avoidance are controlled by goals rather than stimuli, affective stimuli can influence action control by priming associated goals. An integrative ideomotor model of approach and avoidance is presented and discussed.