On the course of goal pursuit: The influence of goal progress on explicit judgments of self-agency

Research has demonstrated that after making high goal progress consumers feel liberated to engage in goal-inconsistent behaviors. But what happens after consumers make high progress in the context of joint goal pursuit? We examine how jointly-made progress towards a joint goal pursued by couples affects subsequent individually-made goal-relevant decisions. Across five experiments with both lab-created couples and married participants and financial data from a couples' money management mobile app, we show that after making high progress on a joint goal (vs. low or no progress), higher relationship power partners are more likely to disengage from the joint goal to pursue personal concerns (e.g., indulge themselves or pursue individual goals), whereas lower relationship power partners do not disengage from the joint goal and continue engaging in goal-consistent actions that maintain its pursuit. We elucidate the underlying mechanism, providing evidence that the joint goal progress boosts the relational self-concept of high (but not low) relationship power partners and this drives the effects. Importantly, we demonstrate the effectiveness of two theory-grounded and easily implementable interventions which promote goal-consistent behaviors among high relationship power consumers in the context of joint savings goals.

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Women’s Self-Relevant Goal Pursuit in the Presence of Physical Pain: An Intraindividual Variability Approach

The Journals of Gerontology Series B ◽

10.1093/geronb/gbaa151 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Shelbie G Turner ◽

Karen Hooker ◽

Robert S Stawski

Keyword(s):

Sense Of Self ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Well Being ◽

Intraindividual Variability ◽

Personal Goals ◽

Physical Pain ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Identity Processes ◽

Health Goal ◽

Age Related

Abstract Objectives Pursuing personal goals that are relevant to one’s sense of self is important for adjusting to age-related changes. Experiences of physical pain, however, are thought to threaten both people’s sense of self and their pursuit of personal goals. Although a majority of older women experience physical pain, little is known about their day-to-day regulation of their self-relevant goals in the presence of physical pain. The objectives of this study were to explore associations between physical pain and health goal pursuit on a daily basis for women who identified health as a part of their possible selves. Methods We took an intraindividual variability approach to analyze whether there were within- and between-person differences in associations between daily pain and daily health goal progress among 62 women who provided data over the course of 100 days, yielding 4,150 occasions of data. Results At the between-person level, women with higher pain on average had lower health goal pursuit on average. At the within-person level, days of higher-than-average pain were associated with lower same-day health goal progress. Discussion Our results suggest that pain interrupts regulation of a self-relevant goal at a within-person—not just between-person—daily level. Future work should consider how these daily, within-person, disruptions affect broader identity processes and overall well-being.

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Planfulness: A Process-Focused Construct of Individual Differences in Goal Achievement.

10.31234/osf.io/yuqma ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Rita M. Ludwig ◽

Sanjay Srivastava ◽

Elliot Berkman

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Discriminant Validity ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Cognitive Strategies ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Goal Achievement ◽

Temporal Orientation ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Convergent And Discriminant Validity ◽

Scale Scores

Goal pursuit outcomes are partly caused by the way people think about goals. However, it is unknown whether there are stable individual differences in the tendency to deploy particular meta-cognitions during goal pursuit, and whether such patterns of thought predict eventual achievement. A tool to assess such differences would help to identify and intervene on barriers to goal progress. Here, we define a new construct within the conscientiousness domain—planfulness—that captures a person’s proclivity to adopt efficient goal-related cognition in pursuit of their goals. We hypothesize that planfulness consists of three facets representing distinct mental processes (temporal orientation, cognitive strategies, and mental flexibility), and that planfulness predicts goal achievement on an individual basis. We developed a 30-item Planfulness Scale with three subscales tested and refined across 5 studies and 10 samples (total unique N = 4,318) on data collected from both student and on-line samples. The Planfulness Scale demonstrated both convergent and discriminant validity when compared to other measurements, and scale scores predicted goal progress in a longitudinal study. We conclude that the Planfulness Scale is a valid and reliable measurement of real-world goal achievement, and we describe the utility of the planfulness construct for self-regulation research and applied settings.

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Goal Setting in Sport and Performance

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.152 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Laura Healy ◽

Alison Tincknell-Smith ◽

Nikos Ntoumanis

Keyword(s):

Goal Setting ◽

Goal Attainment ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Well Being ◽

Effective Technique ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Academic Literature ◽

Critical Commentary ◽

And Performance

Within sporting contexts, goal setting is a commonly used technique that can lead to enhanced performance. Recommendations for goal setting have been widely embraced in sport and performance settings by researchers, practitioners, athletes, and coaches. However, it could be argued that these recommendations are overly simplistic, and that a lack of critical commentary in the sporting literature fails to acknowledge the complexity of goal setting in practice. For example, there has been limited acknowledgement within the applied recommendations of important factors such as personal differences with those individuals setting goals, contextual and environmental factors, and the characteristics of goals being pursed. Equally, the focus of goal setting research and practice has predominantly been on goal progress or goal attainment, thus overlooking the wider benefits of effective goal pursuit on additional aspects such as well-being. Similarly, the interactions between these factors has gained little attention with the academic literature or applied recommendations. This may result in diminished effectiveness of goal setting for athletes, and ultimately lead to sub-optimal performance and well-being. Critical and comprehensive reviews of the literature are timely and necessary, in order to develop a deeper understanding of goal setting in sport and performance. Combining research from both within sport and from theorists examining goals within other contexts can enhance our understanding of how to promote and support adaptive goal pursuit within sport and performance. Overall, this may lead to more appropriate and useful recommendations for researchers, athletes, coaches, and applied practitioners, ensuring that goal setting can be an effective technique for a range of individuals within sport and performance contexts.

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Interpersonal Influences on Self-Regulation

Current Directions in Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/0963721410364499 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 101-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Gráinne M. Fitzsimons ◽

Eli J. Finkel

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Self Control ◽

Interpersonal Processes ◽

Goal Progress ◽

The Social ◽

Current Article ◽

Goal Pursuits ◽

The 1960S ◽

The Impact

Since the 1960s, personality and social psychologists have taken major strides toward understanding the intrapersonal processes that promote successful self-regulation. The current article reviews insights into the understanding of self-regulation gained by examining the impact of interpersonal processes on the initiation, operation, and monitoring of goals. We review research suggesting that other people can act as triggers of goals, causing people to unconsciously initiate new goal pursuits; that interpersonal interactions can tap self-control, leaving people with depleted resources for goal pursuit; that relationship partners can support goal operation, leading to more effective goal pursuit; and that the social environment can facilitate effective monitoring of one’s extant goal progress and likelihood of future goal achievement.

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Nonconscious Nudges: Encouraging Sustained Goal Pursuit

Journal of Consumer Research ◽

10.1093/jcr/ucy071 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 307-329 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Juliano Laran ◽

Chris Janiszewski ◽

Anthony Salerno

Keyword(s):

Goal Pursuit ◽

Goal Commitment ◽

Common Finding ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Goal Activation ◽

Two Factors ◽

The Common ◽

Nonconscious Goal Pursuit ◽

Goal System ◽

Compare And Contrast

Abstract A person can use a variety of strategies to sustain the pursuit of a conscious goal (e.g., deliberate on the goal, monitor goal progress, increase goal commitment). However, less is known about how to sustain the pursuit of a nonconscious goal, a reality that is reflected in the common finding that nonconscious goal pursuit typically persists for only one choice episode. This research investigates two factors that help sustain the pursuit of a nonconscious goal: increasing the level of goal activation prior to goal pursuit and limiting the extent of goal deactivation after a goal-consistent behavior. When one of these two factors is present, nonconscious goal pursuit is sustained, as evidenced by a longer sequence of goal-consistent choices. Five studies compare and contrast strategies for sustaining conscious and nonconscious goal pursuit and provide insight into how the goal system manages the pursuit of a nonconscious goal. In addition, the findings inform when a consumer is more or less likely to pursue opposing goals across sequential choices (e.g., being virtuous after being indulgent).

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Self-regulatory consequences of observing others making goal progress: A longitudinal field study in weight loss groups

10.31234/osf.io/3xt8k ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

James Reynolds ◽

Thomas Llewelyn Webb ◽

Kathleen McCulloch ◽

Grainne Fitzsimons

Keyword(s):

Weight Loss ◽

Field Study ◽

Indirect Effect ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Longitudinal Field ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Mediation Analyses ◽

Positive Goal ◽

Weight Loss Programme ◽

As If

Objective. What happens when people see others making progress toward a goal that they also hold? Is it motivating or could it undermine goal pursuit because people feel that they have made progress themselves (i.e., they experience vicarious goal satiation)? Methods. We investigated these questions in a longitudinal field context – a group weight loss programme. N = 132 participants who were overweight or obese and attended weekly weight loss classes completed questionnaires over 11 weeks to investigate the consequences of observing other people making progress toward their goal of losing weight. Results. Observing others making good progress was associated with participants holding stronger intentions to lose weight themselves (B = 0.04, p = .012), positive goal-related affect (B = 0.27, p = .017), and feeling that they were also making progress themselves (B = 0.22, p < .001). However, observing others making good progress was also associated with losing a smaller amount of weight over the following week (B = .13, p = .005). Mediation analyses showed a significant indirect effect of observing others making good progress, via feelings about their own progress, on changes in weight, B = .02, 95% CI [.00, .04].Conclusions. People who view others making progress tend to be less successful at losing weight themselves over the following week. The findings suggest that this is, in part, explained by the person feeling as if they have made progress themselves; thereby providing the first demonstration of vicarious goal satiation in a field context.

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Simple Pleasures: How Goal-Aligned Behaviours Relate to State Happiness

10.31234/osf.io/vw9n7 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Kelly Wang ◽

Marina Milyavskaya

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Well Being ◽

Survey Study ◽

Personal Goals ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Goal Alignment ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Unique Effect ◽

The Individual

Goal progress has been consistently linked to subjective well-being and happiness (Klug & Maier, 2015), but do the individual actions of doing something helpful for personal goals have similar effects? The current study investigates how goal alignment – the perception that you are engaging in activities that are aligned with personal goals - might be associated with state happiness. We hypothesized that people will feel happier when the activities they are performing are aligned with their goals. The study also explored the roles of goal progress and competence in this relation. Data on goal-activity alignment, goal progress, competence, and state happiness were collected in an experience-sampling study with undergraduate students (N = 159) and a survey study with Amazon MTurk workers (N = 252). Using multilevel analyses and regression analyses, results indicated that participants were happier when they were pursuing activities that were more closely aligned with their goals than when pursuing less goal-aligned activities; the results remained significant after accounting for goal progress. Participants who were more goal-aligned on average reported greater state happiness; this effect was nonsignificant when goal progress was accounted for. Results suggest that goal alignment has a significant and unique effect on state happiness and that goal pursuit has very immediate benefits that begin as soon as individuals start doing actions helpful for their personal goals.

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Goal Cycle: Antecedents and Consequences of Goal Progress

10.31234/osf.io/3b8aw ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ewa Szumowska ◽

Katarzyna Jasko ◽

Karolina Dukała ◽

Paulina Górska

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Cyclic Process ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Reciprocal Relationships ◽

Goal Importance ◽

Antecedents And Consequences ◽

Person Centered Approach ◽

Insight Into ◽

Level Of Analysis

Even though goal pursuit is often conceptualized as a linear phenomenon, it consists of feedback loops and reciprocal relationships between its crucial components. To investigate this aspect, we tested relationships between goal properties (goal importance and expectancy of success) as well as goal-related emotions and goal progress over time. Across three waves, 389 participants, and 3,150 unique goals, we found that goal progress was positively predicted by goal expectancy and, less consistently, by the importance attached to the goal. Furthermore, it was also positively predicted by goal-related satisfaction and, to a lesser extent, stress. Moreover, goal progress positively predicted future progress on the same goal via increased importance, increased expectancy, and increased satisfaction and negatively via decreased stress. These results provide insight into the mechanisms of goal-pursuit viewed as a cyclic process. Moreover, given that we have found much greater variability at the goal (compared to the person) level of analysis, the results suggest a goal- rather than person-centered approach to studying self-regulation.

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Some goals just feel easier: Self-concordance leads to goal progress through subjective ease, not effort

10.31234/osf.io/xd5b7 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Kaitlyn M. Werner ◽

Marina Milyavskaya ◽

Emily Foxen-Craft ◽

Richard Koestner

Keyword(s):

Structural Equation Modelling ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Future Directions ◽

Goal Progress ◽

Equation Modelling ◽

Multilevel Structural Equation

The objective of the present study was to examine whether subjective ease of goal pursuit would mediate the relation between an individual’s motivation for pursuing a goal and their subsequent goal progress. Toward the beginning of a university semester, participants (n=176) identified three goals they planned to pursue throughout the semester and reported their motivation for pursuing each of them. Participants then indicated, at two monthly follow-ups, how easy and natural it felt to pursue these goals and how much effort they were putting into attaining them. At the end of the semester, participants reported on their goal progress. Within-person analyses indicated that self-concordant goals were perceived as being easier to pursue relative to an individual’s other goals. Using multilevel structural equation modelling, results indicated that subjective ease, but not effort, mediated the relation between motivation and goal progress, such that people were more likely to successfully accomplish self-concordant goals because pursuing those goals was perceived as being more effortless, and not because more effort was exerted. Discussion focuses on the implications and future directions for research on subjective effort and goal pursuit.

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