In particular: "Can reasoning itself have causal or motivational force, for example in countering affect or impulse, or must it arouse/recruit affect in order to have such influence?" Seems to me when we reflect on our motivations we can encounter many things: desires, thoughts, emotions, confusion, imprints from experience, etc. Most likely there's not a black-&-white answer here. Perhaps only a subset of our motivations can be articulated through reasoning? Could reasoning actually be "self-fulfilling" in some contexts? The question: "why did you do that" might elicit reasons as a response for a particular act but can reason always explain motivation - or only rationalize it?
Article Reasoning, Cognitive Control, and Moral Intuition
That's a fascinating thought, and something that I've seen some aspects of in my study of system dynamics understanding in groups (System Dynamics Understanding in Projects: Information Sharing, Psychological Safety, and Performance Effects). Individuals able to systematically reason, are also more likely to share thoughts with others of like understanding.
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