Persistence and Disengagement in Personal Goal Pursuit

Abstract

Persistence in and timely disengagement from personal goals are core components of successful self-regulation and therefore relevant to well-being and performance. In the history of motivation psychology, there has been a clear emphasis on persistence. Only recently have researchers become interested in goal disengagement, as mirrored by the amount of pertinent research. In this review, we present an overview of the most influential motivational theories on persistence and disengagement that address situational and personal determinants, cognitive and affective mechanisms, and consequences for well-being, health, and performance. Some of these theories use a general approach, whereas others focus on individual differences. The theories presented incorporate classical expectancy-value constructs as well as contemporary volitional concepts of self-regulation. Many of the theoretical approaches have spread to applied fields (e.g., education, work, health). Despite numerous important insights into persistence and disengagement, we also identify several unresolved research questions. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Getting trapped in a dead end? Trait self-control and boredom are linked to goal adjustment

“…Finally, one might argue that self-control and boredom represent but two examples of a potentially large number of personality factors involved in goal adjustment (e.g., Wrosch & Scheier, 2020;Brandstätter & Bernecker, 2022). Therefore, we think of the present research in terms of a promising starting point for more comprehensive analyses of the association between personality goal adjustment that take a broader set of constructs into account.…”

“…In a recent meta-analysis of more than 30 independent samples, Barlow et al (2020) showed that effective goal disengagement and reengagement are linked to better psychological well-being and a higher quality of life. Unfortunately, little is known about the personality factors related to differences in goal disengagement and reengagement, thereby limiting the knowledge about possible antecedents of effective goal adjustment (Wrosch & Scheier, 2020;Brandstätter & Bernecker, 2022). Here, we adopt an individual differences approach to address this question and investigate factors that might hinder or help people to effectively adjust their goal striving.…”

The Great Gatsby Curve

“…Space precludes extensive discussion; we refer readers to Eccles and Wigfield (2002) and Brandstätter and Bernecker (2022). Much of this perspective is associated with Albert Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (cf Bandura (1997)) and Jacqueline Eccles' work on expectancy-motivation theory (Eccles (1983)), which we believe are underappreciated by economists.…”

Research on Students’ Mental Health Based on Data Mining Algorithms

“…The goal of psychology [ 42 ] is to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior. At present, most psychological research focuses on describing and explaining the relationship between variables.…”