Goal Cycle: Antecedents and Consequences of Goal Progress

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.

The Psychology of Getting Busy: Multitasking as a Consequence of Goal Activation

With the constantly increasing popularity of human multitasking, it is crucial to know why do people engage in simultaneous task performance or switch between unfinished tasks. In the present paper, we propose that multitasking behavior occurs when people have multiple active goals, the greater their number, the greater the degree of multitasking. The number of currently considered goals is reduced where one goal’s significance overrides the others, reducing the degree of multitasking. We tested these hypotheses in a series of six studies in which we manipulated either goal activation or goal importance and investigated how this affected the degree of multitasking. The results showed that the more active goals participants actively entertained, the more likely they were to plan to engage in multitasking (Study 1 & 5), and the more often they switched between tasks (Study 2). They also multitasked more under high interruption condition assumed to activate more goals than low interruption condition (Study 3). Further, we demonstrated that the degree of multitasking was significantly decreased by reducing the number of simultaneously considered goals, either via increasing the relative importance of one of the goals (Study 4) or via inducing greater commitment to one of the goals through a mental contrasting procedure (Study 5). Study 6, carried out in an academic context, additionally showed that the importance of a class-related goal negatively predicted media multitasking in class. The results thus show that goal activation is the underlying mechanism that explains why people multitask.

Using life goals to explore subjective well-being of people in northeast Thailand

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore changes in life goal importance and subjective well-being, and to uncover if life goal importance predicts subjective well-being of people in the northeast of Thailand.Design/methodology/approachThe data of two surveys conducted in 2006 (n = 184) and 2016 (n = 184) were used. The samples were selected by using multiple sampling techniques and subsampled by age and gender. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent t-test and multiple linear regression.FindingsPaired sample t-test revealed that the change of individual parameters under extrinsic life goals are most evident, these parameters include owning a big house, free of debts, owning amenities, living in clean and pleasant environment, having fewer children, children obtaining formal education, good behaviour of children and good health. The authors also found that two parameters under relational life goal were found different (good family relationship, hosting community events and activities). Satisfaction with living conditions deteriorated while satisfaction with life improved. The model from 2005 confirms that life goal importance predicts subjective well-being, while the opposite with the 2016 model. The direction of prediction of extrinsic, intrinsic and relational life goal importance on subjective well-being between 2006 and 2016 models are in opposite direction.Originality/valueThe study extends the authors understanding of the link between the importance of life goals and subjective well-being, which was previously confined to the advancement towards life goals (goal achievement).

Managing conflicting goals through prioritization? The role of age and relative goal importance

Three studies tested the role of prioritization in solving conflict between multiple goals in different age groups. Study 1 (N = 185 young, middle-aged, older adults) stressed the importance to solve two competing tasks equally well within a short time. Older adults prioritized more than younger adults. However, contrary to our expectations, prioritization led to higher perceived conflict, more negative affect, and less control. Study 2 (N = 117 younger and older adults) found that, using a more lenient instruction, deemphasizing the importance of performing equally well on both tasks, prioritization was no longer associated with perceived goal conflict. Study 3 (N = 721 young, middle-aged, older adults) was an online study using hypothetical scenarios. This study was run to substantiate the potential mechanism underlying the differences between Study 1 and 2 and supported the hypothesized effect of the instructional strictness of pursuing two goals. Thus, when encountering conflicting goals older adults prioritize more than younger adults, but prioritization might not be optimal for solving short-term goal conflict when both conflicting goals are equally important.

You can’t always get what you want: The role of change goal importance, goal feasibility and momentary experiences for volitional personality development

Most adults want to change aspects of their personality. However, previous studies have provided mixed evidence on whether such change goals can be successfully implemented, perhaps partly due to neglecting the goals’ importance and feasibility as well as the experience of trait-relevant situations and states. This study examined associations between change goals and changes in self-reported Big Five traits assessed four times across two years in an age-heterogeneous sample of 382 adults (255 younger adults, Mage = 21.6 years; 127 older adults, Mage = 67.8 years). We assessed trait-relevant momentary situations and states in multiple waves of daily diaries over the first year ( M = 43.9 days). Perceived importance and feasibility of change goals were analysed as potentially moderating factors. Contrary to our hypotheses, the results demonstrated that neither change goals nor goal importance or feasibility were consistently associated with trait change, likely due to inconsistent associations with momentary situations and behaviours. The results suggest that wanting to change one’s traits does not necessarily lead to changes without engaging in trait-relevant situations and behaviours. These findings provide novel insights into the boundary conditions of volitional personality development.

A General Architecture for Modeling the Dynamics of Goal-Directed Motivation and Decision Making

We present a unified model of the dynamics of goal-directed motivation and decision making. The model—referred to as the GOAL architecture—provides a quantitative framework for integrating theories of goal pursuit and for relating their predictions to different types of data. The GOAL architecture proposes that motivation changes over time according to three gradients that capture the effects of the distance to the goal (i.e., the progress remaining), the time to the deadline, and the rate of progress required to achieve the goal. We use the model to integrate and compare six theoretical perspectives that make different predictions about how these dynamics unfold when pursuing approach and avoidance goals. We use the architecture within a hierarchical Bayesian framework to analyze data from three experiments which manipulate distance to goal, time to deadline, and goal type (approach versus avoidance), and data from the naturalistic context of professional basketball. The results show that people rely on all three gradients when making resource allocation decisions during goal pursuit, but that the relative influence of the gradients depends on the goal type. We also demonstrate how the GOAL architecture can be used to answer questions about the effectiveness of people's goal pursuit strategies and the influence of goal importance. Our findings suggest that goal pursuit unfolds in a complex manner that cannot be accounted for by any one previous theoretical perspective, but that is well-characterized by our unified framework. This research highlights the importance of theoretical integration for understanding motivation and decision-making during goal pursuit.

PSYCHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS THAT UNDERLIE GOAL EXPECTANCY AMONG RETIREES

The way individuals envision, formulate, and strive to meet retirement goals is poorly understood. In particular, few studies have focused on the goal setting process of individuals who have already retired. In this investigation, the authors replicate and extend Hershey and Jacobs-Lawson’s (2009) model of retirement goal expectancy across five retirement resource domains. Their (path) model posits individuals’ perceptions of the consequence of failing to achieve a goal determines the perceived importance of the goal. Perceived goal importance, in turn, determines the effort individuals allocate toward achieving the goal (goal striving). And goal striving, in turn, predicts the perceived likelihood the goal will be achieved (goal expectancy). This basic model was empirically tested across five key retirement resource domains (health, physical, social, cognitive and emotional) identified by Wang and Shi (2013). The sample of 698 American retirees (Mage=77.14 years, SD=6.00) was divided into four subgroups: males and females, aged 66-77 and 78-94. Twenty theoretically-driven path analysis models were tested using AMOS (i.e., four subgroup models across five retirement domains). Differences were observed across subgroups and domains in terms of the magnitude of path coefficients and the amount of accounted variance in goal expectancy criterion measures (R2 values ranged from .26-.67). Overall, the path model was effective at capturing variability in retirement goal expectancy. Findings not only provide a synthesis of the 2009 goal model with Wang and Shi’s Dynamic Resource Theory, but they also suggest areas in which retirement intervention specialists can intercede to increase the likelihood of goal attainment.