Adaptive Self-Regulation of Unattainable Goals: Goal Disengagement, Goal Reengagement, and Subjective Well-Being

Goal adjustment capacities (i.e., goal disengagement and goal reengagement) are core self-regulatory resources theorized to buffer psychological well-being during intractable life circumstances. However, research has yet to examine whether these capacities protect well-being for individuals who encounter uncontrollable losses in their ability to pursue important life goals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a nationally-representative sample of American adults aged 18-80 (n = 292), the present longitudinal study examined the influence of goal disengagement and reengagement on levels and change in psychological well-being for individuals who differed in perceived control over their goals early in the pandemic. Results from multilevel growth models showed that goal reengagement, but not goal disengagement, capacities predicted higher levels of well-being (lower perceived stress, depressive symptoms; higher life satisfaction, meaning in life) for individuals who reported pandemic-induced declines in control over their goals. Findings inform theories of motivation and self-regulation and point to the adaptive value of goal reengagement capacities during uncontrollable life circumstances.

Download Full-text

Goal disengagement in emerging adulthood

International Journal of Behavioral Development ◽

10.1177/0165025415597550 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 40 (2) ◽

pp. 117-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Veronika Brandstätter ◽

Marcel Herrmann

Keyword(s):

Emerging Adulthood ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Well Being ◽

Decisional Conflict ◽

Negative Consequences ◽

Goal Disengagement ◽

Action Crises ◽

And Performance ◽

Action Crisis

In emerging adulthood, being committed to and making progress on important personal goals constitutes a source of identity and well-being. Goal striving, however, does not always go without problems. Even though highly committed to a goal, individuals may experience recurring setbacks and, consequently, increasing doubts about the goal that might culminate in an action crisis, that is, an intra-psychic decisional conflict about whether to disengage from or to continue on their way. Action crises have been shown to lead to negative consequences on well-being and performance. Besides these negative consequences, however, an action crisis is hypothesized to have an adaptive side that is addressed in the present paper. Actively questioning the pursuit of a goal should allow for weighing up the focal goal against alternative and possibly more desirable goals. This open-minded re-evaluation, in the event of goal disengagement, is assumed to avoid the emergence of action crises in subsequently formed goals. As expected, in a longitudinal study over one and a half years with n = 207 freshman students, the degree of experienced action crisis prior to goal disengagement predicted the desirability and decisional certainty of the subsequently formed alternative goal. Theoretical implications of the results for research on self-regulation and identity formation in emerging adulthood are discussed.

Download Full-text

Ethnopsychological Peculiaraty of the Relationships of Subjective Well-being and Personal Self-regulation

Izvestiya of Saratov University New Series Series Philosophy Psychology Pedagogy ◽

10.18500/1819-7671-2015-15-3-65-70 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 65-70

Author(s):

E. E. Bocharova ◽

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Well Being ◽

Subjective Well Being

Download Full-text

Indicators of psychological stability of the individual to sociocultural threats and negative information impact

Vestnik of Minin University ◽

10.26795/2307-1281-2020-8-2-11 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

P. A. Kislyakov ◽

I.-L. S. Meyerson ◽

P. A. Egorova

Keyword(s):

Self Regulation ◽

Well Being ◽

Negative Information ◽

Theoretical Research ◽

International Studies ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Moral Norms ◽

Adaptive Potential ◽

Literature Study ◽

The Individual

Introduction. The article analyzes the problem of psychological stability of the individual to socio-cultural threats and negative information impact. As social problems become more acute, the topic of personal security and resistance to emerging threats and risks takes an increasing place in the scientific literature. Today we can observe various violations of the processes of socio-cultural identification, which reduce the adaptive potential of the individual. The reverse side of accessibility in the global information environment is an increase in the degree of danger, the emergence of new risk factors and threats of information and psychological impact. Of particular concern are the facts of Russian youth joining terrorist groups, as well as the facts of youth involvement in destructive protest movements and actions.Materials and methods. The following methods were used for the preparation of this article; theoretical analysis of Russian and international literature, study of scientific articles and publications on the topic, overview of results from Russian and international studies, content analysis.Results. Approaches to determining the content of the category of psychological stability of a person and its various aspects are considered: emotional stability, moral stability, moral stability, stability of behavior forms, resistance to addictive factors, and socio-cultural stability. Identify invariant indicators that determine the psychological stability of the individual in various contexts of countering socio-cultural threats and negative information impact: socio-cultural identity based on views, beliefs, attitudes consistent with moral norms and spiritual values; motivation of the individual to self-actualization, success, openness and commitment to society; subjective well-being and resilience; critical thinking and the ability to predict risks and threats; possession of constructive coping strategies; adaptive personal potential expressed in mastering self-regulation methods that ensure successful adaptation to a changing socio-cultural environment.Discussion and Conclusions. The conducted theoretical research allowed us to conclude that the psychological stability of a person is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, which is revealed in the moral, socio-psychological and system-activity perspective. It is concluded that the task of forming psychological stability and personal adaptive potential should be updated in the educational system, including the formation of knowledge about oneself as a person, about their psychological capabilities and mechanisms of self-regulation, and the explanation of moral norms and values.

Download Full-text

Social Support in the Structure of Personality Resources in Individuals with Disabilities

Cultural-Historical Psychology ◽

10.17759/chp.2015110311 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 120-134 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

D.A. Leontyev ◽

A.A. Lebedeva ◽

T.A. Silantieva

Keyword(s):

Social Support ◽

Students With Disabilities ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Well Being ◽

Psychological Resources ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Individuals With Disabilities ◽

Distinctive Features ◽

Developmental Conditions

The paper focuses on the issues of social support of individuals with disabilities and describes its role in the development and maintenance of subjective well-being of persons in situations of disability. A special external resource for overcoming unfavorable developmental conditions, social support is interlocked in a continuous relationship with psychological resources of personality. One of its distinctive features is that it implies the subject's activity aimed at overcoming difficult life situation on his/her own. When the person's bodily resources are insufficient (as it happens in situations of physical disabilities), the role of macro- and microso¬cial resources in supporting his/her well-being naturally increases. However, when both social and bodily resources are scarce, it is the individual's personality that stands in the gap. The research described in the paper explored the relationship between microsocial resources (support of family and friends, satisfaction with this support) and psychological resources of resistance and self-regulation of personality. The sample consisted of 210 subjects (48 students with disabilities, 162 healthy subjects). The outcomes revealed certain differences between the subsamples with low and high rates of social support which suggest that the subjects' perceptions and evaluations of the support contribute to their psychological resources of coping and self-regulation, acti¬vating and/or reinforcing the existing potential of their personalities.

Download Full-text

Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS)

Journal of Individual Differences ◽

10.1027/1614-0001/a000022 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 31 (3) ◽

pp. 138-149 ◽

Cited By ~ 148

Author(s):

Willibald Ruch ◽

René T. Proyer ◽

Claudia Harzer ◽

Nansook Park ◽

Christopher Peterson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

English Language ◽

Character Strengths ◽

High Reliability ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Well Being ◽

Self Report ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

Peer Ratings ◽

German Speaking ◽

Median Test

The Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS; Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005a ) is an English-language self-report questionnaire that measures 24 widely-valued character strengths. The present paper describes the creation and adaptation of the German version of the VIA-IS and its peer-rating form using a sample of 1,674 adults. The 24 subscales had high reliability (median α = .77; median corrected item-total correlations = .45) and high stability across 9 months (median test-retest correlation = .73). The VIA-IS peer form also had high reliability (median α = .81). Self- and peer-ratings of strengths converged as expected (median correlation = .40), and on average ordered the strengths in the same way, correlating .88 across the 24 strengths. There were low to modest correlations of the VIA subscales with demographic variables. Neither the VIA-IS nor the VIA-IS Peer was strongly influenced by social desirability. Correlations with three different measures of subjective well-being replicated findings from earlier studies of the original English VIA-IS and supported the validity of the scale. Furthermore, relations to self-reported behavior and contentment with various aspects of life were modest but congruent with the meaning of the scales (e.g., higher endorsement of religion among spiritual participants, less cigarette smoking among participants with higher self-regulation). Overall, the German VIA-IS and VIA-IS Peer demonstrated good psychometric properties and promising validity evidence. These scales can be recommended for the assessment of strengths of character in the German-speaking world.

Download Full-text