Problematic Public Goals, (vernunftzentrum.de), 01/29/2018
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I haven't forgotten you, Toki Pona. Just the other day, I 
was reading a blog that referenced a research article, which 
was entitled:

 When Intentions Go Public[1]
 Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?
 Peter M. Gollwitzer, Paschal Sheeran, Verena Michalski,
 and Andrea E. Seifert
 
The abstract reads:

 Based on Lewinian goal theory in general and 
 self-completion theory in particular, four experiments 
 examined the implications of other people taking notice of 
 one’s identity-related behavioral intentions (e.g., the 
 intention to read law periodicals regularly to reach the
 identity goal of becoming a lawyer). Identity-related
 behavioral intentions that had been noticed by other people
 were translated into action less intensively than those
 that had been ignored (Studies 1–3). This effect was
 evident in the field (persistent striving over 1 week’s
 time; Study 1) and in the laboratory (jumping on 
 opportunities to act; Studies 2 and 3), and it held among
 participants with strong but not weak commitment to the 
 identity goal (Study 3). Study 4 showed, in addition, that 
 when other people take notice of an individual’s identity- 
 related behavioral intention, this gives the individual a 
 premature sense of possessing the aspired-to identity.

And it struck me that perhaps one of the issues with 
learning Toki Pona, for me, was the fact that every time I 
set about working on it, I was writing phlog entries about 
my experience almost in tandem. Could the practice of 
writing and publishing gopher content in conjunction with my 
effort be undermining my larger goal of learning Toki Pona?

I have always been taught that externalizing goals makes 
them more surely attained, because it creates 
accountability. This research article suggests otherwise.

The article was deeply thought-provoking, far beyond my Toki 
Pona experience. I'll share a few more things from the 
article; here are afew quotes to ponder:

 "people often construe behavioral intentions in more 
 general terms, thus allowing substitution of means for 
 attainment"

 "a substitute activity engenders a sense of having reached 
 the conceptually broader intention, given that performance 
 of the substitute activity has been witnessed by other 
 people"

 "social recognition of an identity-relevant behavioral 
 intention may have negative effects on its enactment"

 "incomplete individuals are more concerned with finding an 
 audience for their identity strivings"

 "less likely to translate their identity-relevant 
 behavioral intentions into action when other people have 
 taken notice of those intentions."

 "When other people take notice of one's identity-relevant 
 behavioral intentions, one's performance of the intended 
 behaviors is compromised"

 "it does not emerge when people are not committed to the 
 superordinate identity goal"

 "Other people's taking notice of one's identity-relevant 
 intentions apparently engenders a premature sense of 
 completeness regarding the identity goal"

 "The present studies indicate that the simple matter 
 of identity-relevant behavioral intentions becoming public 
 undermines the realization of those intentions"

 "any striving for goals-and not just identity goals-that 
 can be attained by various behavioral routes (means) is 
 vulnerable to the negative effects of social reality on the 
 enactment of behavioral intentions"

 "success on a subgoal (e.g., eating healthy meals) in the 
 service of a superordinate goal (i.e., keeping in shape) 
 reduces striving for alternative subgoals (e.g., going to
 the gym)"

I'll leave any allegorical application to the individual 
who is reading, but for my part, I'm going to think twice 
about what I share and don't share in relation to my 
learning goals, and perhaps save my writing for after I've 
reached said goals. That is, if I can overcome the 
temptation to shortcut my identity goals...


[1] http://psych.nyu.edu/gollwitzer/09_Gollwitzer_Sheeran_Seifert_Michalski_When_Intentions_.pdf