Goal Imagery: Bridging the Gap Between Implicit Motives and Explicit Goals

Two studies examined the role of goal imagery (i.e., the perception-like mental representation of the pursuit and attainment of a goal) in establishing congruence between individuals’ implicit motives and their inclination to pursue explicit goals assigned to them. Study 1 found that after a goal-imagery exercise, implicit needs for power and affiliation predicted participants’ affective arousal and their commitment to a social-interaction goal furnished with powerand affiliation-related incentives. In Study 2, implicit power motivation predicted the level of performance participants achieved in pursuit of a competitive performance goal after a goal-imagery exercise. Without goal imagery, however, participants’ motivation to pursue an explicit goal was independent of their implicit motive dispositions in both studies. Journal of Personality 67:1, February 1999. Copyright © 1999 by Blackwell Publishers, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1JF, UK. Oliver C. Schultheiss was supported by a fellowship from the German National Scholarship Foundation during the conduct of this research. Preparation of this article was facilitated by a postdoctoral fellowship of the German Science Foundation (SCHU 1210/1-1) to the first author. This article is based on parts of the first author’s dissertation. We wish to thank Melli Kosmann and Harry Jankowsky for their help in data collection and Erin Lehman for valuable comments on earlier drafts of this article. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Oliver C. Schultheiss, Department of Psychology, University of Potsdam, P.O. Box 6