Knowing oneself and long-term goal pursuit: Relations among self-concept clarity, conscientiousness, and grit

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.

Download Full-text

Pursuing goals for us: Relationally autonomous reasons in long-term goal pursuit.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology ◽

10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.848 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 90 (5) ◽

pp. 848-861 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Jonathan S. Gore ◽

Susan E. Cross

Keyword(s):

Goal Pursuit

Download Full-text

Persistence as Returning: An Integrative Review of Theory and Research on Continued Goal Pursuit

10.31237/osf.io/y9u6t ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Hannah Moshontz

Keyword(s):

Goal Pursuit ◽

Operational Definition ◽

Integrative Review ◽

Comprehensive Account ◽

Definition Of

Continued goal pursuit despite goal-opponent forces (persistence) has long been recognized as essential to achieving long-term goals. Though many causes and correlates of persistence and non-persistence have been identified, no theory offers a comprehensive account of how people persist and when errors in persistence (under-persistence and over-persistence) are likely to occur. This review offers an operational definition of persistence that serves as a framework for integrating existing theories and empirical findings. The act of persistence is defined as returning to goal pursuit following a recess. Consequently, variations in persistence arise from: 1) goal pursuit recesses and 2) re-engagement in goal pursuit. Implications for errors in persistence are explored, and areas needing additional study are identified.

Download Full-text

How to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too: Strategic Indulgence in Big-Time Collegiate Sports Among Academically Successful Students

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550618789403 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 792-801 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Lile Jia ◽

Edward R. Hirt ◽

Alethea H. Q. Koh

Keyword(s):

Academic Success ◽

Grade Point Average ◽

Goal Pursuit ◽

Past Research ◽

Academically Successful ◽

Low Grade ◽

Collegiate Sports ◽

Grade Point ◽

Successful Students

Past research on academic success emphasizes the need to avoid pleasurable nonacademic activities. In the context of enjoying big-time collegiate sports, we examined the notion that students, especially academically successful ones, may strategically indulge in sports games to resolve the conflict with academic pursuit. After confirming that high- (vs. low-) grade point average (GPA) students indeed found game-related activities less disruptive ( Npilot = 325), we proceeded to study whether strategic indulgence or single-minded avoidance was their preferred means to resolve the game–study conflict. High- (vs. low-) GPA students exhibited three features of strategic indulgence. They were more sensitive to the goodness of the opportunity to partake in collegiate sports ( NStudy1 = 216), engaged in compensatory planning to study on nongame days ( NSudy2 = 409), and actively engaged and enjoyed the game-related activities ( Nstudy3 = 530). These results suggest that understanding strategic indulgence in tempting activities would enrich our knowledge of long-term goal pursuit.

Download Full-text