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Postactional goal pursuit: Consequences of task completion for thought content, affect, and behavioral intentions

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Abstract

Postactional goal pursuit remains an underexplored area of the mindset theory of action phases. According to the theory, individuals enter a postactional phase following the completion of an intention. This phase focuses on evaluating goal outcomes, answering questions such as: Was the goal completed successfully? Was it worth the effort? Contrasting postactional phase with predecisional and actional goal pursuit, the present research examines differences in cognitive orientation, affective responses to feedback, and functional benefits for adapting subsequent goal pursuit. Five experiments show that postactional goal pursuit engenders outcome-focused deliberation, more intense affect in reaction to the current state of goal pursuit, and increased readiness to adapt subsequent goal pursuit to experienced outcomes. Moving beyond conceptual arguments, the present work provides initial evidence that postactional goal pursuit provokes a mindset-like shift suitable for a phase-specific task of outcome evaluation.

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Notes

  1. For all studies, we report all dependent measures, conditions, and data exclusions. Data collection was completed prior to analysis unless otherwise noted. Sample sizes were generally based on observed effect sizes in prior studies and convenience. When we did not conduct formal a priori power analyses, we instead present sensitivity analyses for the study. All associated data are posted online: [https://doi.org/10.17632/m7cths4v4p.1].

  2. There were no effects on emotion content of the thoughts: Phase, F(1,164) = 0.56, p = .45, d = .12, Task experience, F(1,164) = 1.80, p = .18, d = .21, and Phase × Task experience interaction, F(1,164) = 0.64, p = .43, d = .12. Emotion content in the actional phase with success experience was quite high, suggesting anticipating a positive final outcome. Thoughts about the importance of the task were higher in the failure experience than in the success experience condition, F(1,164) = 6.94, p = .009, d = .41. There was no main effect of phase F(1,164) = 1.62, p = .20, d = .20, nor any interaction, F(1,164) = 2.54, p = .11, d = .25. No main effect of either phase F(1,164) = 1.22, p = .27, d = .17, or task experience F(1,164) = 0.11, p = .74, d = .05, was observed on feasibility. The Phase × Task experience interaction was significant, F(1,164) = 4.61, p = .033, d = .34. In the actional phase, thoughts concerning feasibility tended to be more frequent following a failure experience than a success experience, t(78) = 1.75, p = .083, d = .40. In the postactional phase, there was no effect of task experience, t(86) = 1.26, p = .21, d = .27.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Wyoming, 1000 E. University Ave., Laramie, WY, 82071, USA

    Sean M. McCrea

  2. Penn State Behrend, 0001 Jack Burke Res Center Behrend, Erie, PA, 16563, USA

    Richard J. Vann

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McCrea, S.M., Vann, R.J. Postactional goal pursuit: Consequences of task completion for thought content, affect, and behavioral intentions. Motiv Emot 42, 852–870 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9713-3

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