ApproachAvoidance

Approach-avoidance refers to a motivational conflict that arises when a single goal or situation has both appealing and aversive aspects. The positive features pull toward the goal while the negative features push away, creating competing tendencies and often producing ambivalence or hesitation.

The concept has its roots in Lewin's field theory, which emphasizes that behavior results from the balance of forces guiding and opposing a goal. Later work extended the idea to describe how the strength of approach and avoidance tendencies shifts as the goal becomes more salient or as perceived costs and benefits change. The conflict is most pronounced when a goal offers strong incentives yet also carries significant drawbacks.

Behaviorally, approach-avoidance conflicts can produce fluctuation in actions, prolonged decision times, and moments of vacillation or procrastination. As individuals near the goal, avoidance pressures can intensify if the perceived costs rise, leading to hesitation or partial pursuit. The phenomenon helps explain why some decisions are not all-or-nothing and why people may feel drawn to and repelled by the same option.

Researchers study approach-avoidance with explicit methods and experimental tasks, such as the approach-avoidance task (AAT), which measures automatic approach or avoidance tendencies toward different stimuli by recording reaction times to approach or withdraw actions. The concept also informs clinical psychology, where strong approach-avoidance conflicts can relate to anxiety, indecision, or phobic avoidance, and it has applications in understanding consumer choices and habit formation. Strategies to resolve the conflict include altering perceived benefits and costs, breaking goals into smaller steps, or implementing intention-based plans.