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The Control of Everyday Behaviour

University of Bergen, fred.vollmer{at}psych.uib.no

It has recently been claimed by several authors that all behaviour is causally determined by unconscious mechanisms, and not under our conscious control. What this amounts to is that none of our everyday behaviour can be regarded as intentional, as action. The aim of the present paper is to discuss the evidence on which this claim is based. The conclusion is that though numerous psychological phenomena (like perception, memory, feeling, mood, mannerisms and automatisms) have unconscious determinants, the data do not show that everyday behaviours like talking, writing, working and moving one's body are outside our conscious control.

Key Words: action • automaticity • causation • consciousness • control • everyday behaviour • unconscious

Theory & Psychology, Vol. 11, No. 5, 637-654 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/0959354301115003


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