Stuck in Limbo: Motivational Antecedents and Consequences of Experiencing Action Crises in Personal Goal Pursuit

2017 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 893-905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne C. Holding ◽  
Nora H. Hope ◽  
Brenda Harvey ◽  
Ariane S. Marion Jetten ◽  
Richard Koestner
Keyword(s):  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Personal Goal ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Action Crises

Emotional suppression during personal goal pursuit impedes goal strivings and achievement.

Emotion ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel S. T. Low ◽  
Nickola C. Overall ◽  
Matthew D. Hammond ◽  
Yuthika U. Girme
Keyword(s):  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Personal Goal ◽  
Emotional Suppression

scholarly journals When Goal Pursuit Gets Hairy: A Longitudinal Goal Study Examining the Role of Controlled Motivation and Action Crises in Predicting Changes in Hair Cortisol, Perceived Stress, Health, and Depression Symptoms

2021 ◽  
pp. 216770262199521
Author(s):  
Anne Catherine Holding ◽  
Emily Moore ◽  
Amanda Moore ◽  
Jérémie Verner-Filion ◽  
Isabelle Ouellet-Morin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Stress ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Depression Symptoms ◽  
Hair Cortisol ◽  
Controlled Motivation ◽  
Goal Motivation ◽  
Action Crises ◽  
Action Crisis

The action crisis is a critical phase in goal striving during which the goal pursuer feels conflicted about persevering with the goal or initiating disengagement. Recent research suggests that goal motivation, specifically controlled motivation (i.e., pursuing a goal out of obligation and pressure), increases the likelihood of experiencing action crises. In turn, action crises in goal pursuit have been linked to increases in depression symptoms and cortisol. In the present 8-month longitudinal study, we tracked university students’ personal goals to examine whether the pursuit of controlled goals and the experience of action crises was associated with increasing levels of hair cortisol, perceived stress, poor health, and depression symptoms ( N = 156). Structural equation modeling suggested that experiencing action crises in goal pursuit was associated with increases in markers of stress, depression, and ill-being. This effect was partially explained by controlled goal motivation. The clinical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals The Role of Self-Awareness and Problem-Solving Orientation for the Instrumentality of Goal-Related Means

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Kreibich ◽  
Marie Hennecke ◽  
Veronika Brandstätter
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Personal Goal ◽  
Mediation Model ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Longitudinal Support ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract. Successful goal striving hinges on the selection of instrumental means. The current research investigates individual differences in self-awareness as a predictor for means instrumentality. This effect should be mediated by the tendency of self-aware individuals to approach the process of goal pursuit in a way that is problem-solving-oriented. Four studies ( N1a = 123, N1b = 169, N2 = 353, N3 = 118) were conducted to explore the positive relation between self-awareness and means instrumentality via heightened levels of problem-solving orientation. Studies 1a and 1b found cross-sectional support for the relation between dispositional self-awareness and problem-solving orientation. Study 2 (preregistered) replicated this finding and provided experimental evidence for the hypothesized mediation model. Finally, Study 3 found longitudinal support that dispositional self-awareness and problem-solving orientation predict self-reported means instrumentality and, beyond this, participants’ objective exam grades. This research emphasizes the crucial role of individual differences in self-awareness for an important self-regulatory process, that is, the selection of instrumental means in personal goal pursuit.

On Gains and Losses, Means and Ends

2019 ◽  
pp. 284-304
Author(s):  
Alexandra M. Freund ◽  
Marie Hennecke ◽  
Maida Mustafić
Keyword(s):  
Goal Orientation ◽  
Time Perspective ◽  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Means And Ends ◽  
Predominant Orientation ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
Gains And Losses

Personal goals guide behavior toward a desired outcome, motivate behavior over time and across situations, provide direction and meaning, and contribute to the acquisition of skills and subjective well-being. The adaptiveness of goals, however, might vary with dimensions such as their orientation toward the achievement of gains, maintenance of functioning, or the avoidance of losses. We argue that goal orientation is most adaptive when it corresponds to the availability of resources and the ubiquity of losses. In line with this argument, younger adults show a predominant orientation toward gains, whereas goal orientation shifts toward maintenance and avoidance of loss across adulthood. This shift in goal orientation seems adaptive both regarding subjective well-being and engagement in goal pursuit. A second goal dimension that has been largely overlooked in the literature is the cognitive representation of goal pursuit primarily in terms of its means (i.e., process focus) or its ends (i.e., outcome focus). This chapter also investigates the antecedents and consequences of goal focus. In particular, it highlights the importance of factors related to chronological age (i.e., the availability of resources, future time perspective, goal orientation, motivational phase) for the preference for and adaptiveness of adopting an outcome or process focus.

scholarly journals Goal Cycle: Antecedents and Consequences of Goal Progress

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.

Mind Your Goals, Mind Your Emotions: Mechanisms Explaining the Relation Between Dispositional Mindfulness and Action Crises

2021 ◽  
pp. 014616722098631
Author(s):  
Ariane S. Marion-Jetten ◽  
Geneviève Taylor ◽  
Kaspar Schattke
Keyword(s):  
Emotion Regulation ◽  
Prospective Studies ◽  
Goal Pursuit ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Dispositional Mindfulness ◽  
Goal Motivation ◽  
Action Crises ◽  
Negative Predictor ◽  
Over Time

Action crises describe the intra-psychic conflicts people face when deliberating whether to continue pursuing or to give up a goal for which difficulties keep accumulating. Action crises lead to negative consequences such as elevated distress and depression. Less is known about their predictors. We propose mindfulness as a negative predictor of action crises because mindful people should set more autonomous goals and better regulate their emotions. Three prospective studies examined the relation between mindfulness and action crises and explored goal motivation and emotion regulation as mediators (Study 1, N = 137 students, mean age 22; Study 2, N = 79 students, mean age 24.27; Study 3, N = 236 workers, mean age 40.71). Results showed that mindfulness predicts action crises over time and that this relation is mediated by goal motivation and emotion regulation. We discuss how mindfulness can affect action crises in the phases of the Rubicon Model of goal pursuit.

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