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Dijksterhuis and Aarts define goals as "the mental representations of behaviors or behavioral outcomes that are associated with positive affect," also specifying that goals determine our actions. Unconscious goals are goals that are activated and carried out without conscious awareness. Since the 1980s, this phenomenon has been empirically identified in social and cognitive psychology, providing evidence of complex processing in unconscious cognition. Presently, much psychological literature still focuses largely on conscious components of goal formation and activation, though unconsciously driven goal processes are gaining recognition.

Conscious and Unconscious Goals
The ability to carry out actions with respect to specific and complex goal states is considered a hallmark of human cognition. Modern psychology recognizes that much of cognition occurs outside of conscious awareness, saving valuable mental resources for those tasks and behaviors which mandate our conscious attention (e.g. learning new skills, studying for exams). Acquiring a new skill, such as learning how to drive a car or play the violin, is the kind of goal that we decide to pursue consciously, with the eventual goal of being able to practice the skill with ease and automaticity. We are aware of having many goals that stem from various motivations. For example, a student might develop and behave in accordance with the goal of completing homework on time because of an overarching motivation to succeed academically. Sometimes, these and other types of goals are activated by the environment and carried out in the absence of conscious awareness.

Historical Perspectives of Unconscious Goals and Motivation
Psychoanalytic theory (prominent during early 20th century): Goals are carried out based on biological impulses and "the unconscious" which harbors secret intrapsychic struggles (see Freud)

Behaviorist theory (prominent 1913-1950): Behavior is outside of conscious control and is influenced purely by the environment and conditioned responses to the environment. This perspective completely ignored cognition. (See also B.F. Skinner)

Humanist perspective (1951-Present): Combination of psychoanalytic and behaviorist perspectives, with the "causal self" mediating between the environment's influence and internal desires. Here, behavior thought to be is adapted to the environment but determined entirely by conscious choice.

Modern Perspectives (1980-Present): Modern cognitive and social psychology offer empirical evidence of situations in which we have a lack of metacognitive insight, or conscious awareness, into why we decide to carry out actions and behaviors. Social psychologist John Bargh is credited with leading this line of research since the 1980s, and subsequent work in cognitive psychology and neuroscience has made substantial progress in the understanding of how unconscious goals.

According to these accounts, goals are thought to guide volitional action, but evidence suggests that these goals do not necessarily operate under conscious control. Rather, attention, often in the absence of awareness, is necessary to activate a goal. Once activated, actions that carry out some unconscious goals proceed automatically, as is the case with habits or other well-practiced behaviors. Other times, unconscious goals are carried out with novel procedures or skill applications. Since unconsciously activated goals often produce conscious thoughts and behaviors, we often have the feeling that our behaviors are carried out with respect to goals we are aware of. Evidence suggests that this may be an illusion stemming from the temporal contiguity of volitional thoughts usually preceding actions.

Methods of Unconscious Goal Activation
Researchers study unconscious goals by designing experiments in which participants are exposed to environments that activate a specific goal state, such as performance, cooperation   , conformity , or creativity. Commonly used experimental designs are discussed below.

Semantic Goal Priming
One way that goals can be activated is by semantically priming a goal representation through environmental cues, such as words or images. During semantic goal priming, participants are exposed to a goal-state (such as achievement) through a task or encounter that is unrelated to the testing phase. For example, participants might complete a word search with either neutral or achievement-associated words prior to the task on which performance is measured. Then, a task is a administered on which the participant's behavior is evaluated in relation to the goal that was previously activated through the covert prime. Participants are unaware that they were primed with these goals (determined through debrief) and therefore exhibit unconscious goal activation in these tasks.

Unconscious goals can also be semantically activated through exposing participants to a picture or word that is associated with a schema for a certain person. People will commonly act in accordance to how they would around the primed person, or sometimes take on a value of the primed person in a subsequent task.

Social Mimicry
Mimicry is an action automatically performed from the unconscious goals of cooperation and affiliation. When people wish to build rapport with others, studies show that they often automatically mimic the other person's behavior, posture, tone of voice, etc. Based on this knowledge, social mimicry has been used to activate cooperation goals in experimental research. In such studies, participants are confronted with situations where experimenters covertly engage in a specific behavior, such as shaking their foot. If motivated to build rapport with the experimenter or confederate, participants will unconsciously mimic the other person's behavior. Alternatively, sometimes a confederate will mimic the behavior of a participant. This procedure usually results in the participant reporting increased liking for the confederate, building rapport even if there is no particular reason for having the goal of cooperation in that setting.

Goals and Attention
According to empirical research, attention, but not necessarily conscious awareness, is necessary for goals to be activated. Goals represent desirable outcomes that we strive to reach and affect behavior largely by allowing us to focus attention on aspects of our environment that are relevant to attaining these goals. Attention in the absence of awareness is a common state of being that occurs for any behavior that has become automatic.

According to Dijksterhuis & Aarts (2010) :

1. Attention is largely determined by goals.

2. Consciousness and attention may be correlated in real life (such that stimuli that are attended to are more likely to enter consciousness), but they are independent.

3. Processes that we may think we need consciousness for are usually dependent on attention and not on consciousness.

4. Goal pursuit is dependent on both focus (the ability to keep the same information active) and flexibility (the ability to respond to changing circumstances).

5. Attention is responsible for a balance between focus and flexibility.

6. Conscious intervention may help to restore the balance between focus and flexibility. However, it can also disturb an already appropriate balance.

Summary
Current evidence generally supports the perspective that we constantly form and respond to goals in daily life that we are not consciously aware of. Through attending to our environments and responding adaptively to situations we are presented with, our unconscious goal pursuits allow for planning complex, goal-directed behaviors that we anticipate to be rewarding or beneficial. Pursuing these goals unconsciously help us plan actions that are maximally relevant to our underlying motivations, while exerting minimal effort. Additionally, unconscious goals allow for smooth social interaction with others.