The Pursuit of Personal Goals: A Motivational Approach to Well-Being and Life Adjustment

Brunstein, Joachim C.; Schultheiss, Oliver C.; Maier, Günter W.

doi:10.4135/9781452204802.n6

Cited by 80 publications

(70 citation statements)

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“…A common explanation for why motivational conflict is associated with losses in well-being is a teleological one (Brunstein 1993;Brunstein et al 1999). Goal content (e.g., Ryan 1993, 1996), goal progress (e.g., Sheldon and Kasser 1998;Wiese and Freund 2005), and goal attainment (e.g., Emmons 1986) promote well-being, whereas goal interference hampers goal pursuit (Riediger and Freund 2004).…”

Section: Motivational Conflict and Impairments In Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Torn between want and should: An experience-sampling study on motivational conflict, well-being, self-control, and mindfulness

et al. 2015

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We assumed that situations of motivational want conflict (i.e., feeling that one wants to do something else) and should conflict (i.e., thinking that one should do something else) show differential relationships to different components of well-being because more affective or more cognitive motivational aspects are ignored, respectively. Moreover, we assumed that these differences contribute to the understanding of different self-regulatory styles. Using an experience-sampling approach, 58 university students indicated their current affect, the underlying form of motivation, and whether they experienced a want or a should conflict regarding their daily activities (N = 2376). Furthermore, we assessed participants' self-control and mindfulness before and life satisfaction after the experience-sampling period. As expected, want conflicts came along with lower affective well-being, but were unrelated to cognitive life satisfaction. Although should conflicts also yielded a small, negative association with some aspects of affective well-being, overall, their negative relation with life satisfaction was more pronounced. Positive paths of self-control on affective well-being were mediated via less want and should conflicts, whereas positive paths of both mindfulness and self-control on life satisfaction were mediated via less should conflicts. The relative importance of want and should conflicts in daily self-regulation and wellbeing is discussed.

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Section: Motivational Conflict and Impairments In Well-beingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Torn between want and should: An experience-sampling study on motivational conflict, well-being, self-control, and mindfulness

et al. 2015

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“…In contrast, we propose an analysis on the level of concrete goals. The analysis on the level of concrete goals has been proven to be of great theoretical value in the research on self-regulation, especially because it enables the monitoring of temporal dynamics (Brunstein, Schultheiss, & Maier, 1999;Emmons, 1986;Little, 1989).…”

Section: Research-article2013mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Struggle of Giving Up Personal Goals

Brandstätter

Herrmann

Schüler

2013

Pers Soc Psychol Bull

113

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A critical phase in goal striving occurs when setbacks accumulate and goal disengagement becomes an issue. This critical phase is conceptualized as an action crisis and assumed to be characterized by an intrapsychic conflict in which the individual becomes torn between further goal pursuit and goal disengagement. Our theorizing converges with Klinger's conceptualization of goal disengagement as a process, rather than a discrete event. Two longitudinal field studies tested and found support for the hypothesis that an action crisis not only compromises an individual's psychological and physiological well-being, but also dampens the cognitive evaluation of the respective goal. In Study 3, marathon runners experiencing an action crisis in their goal of running marathons showed a stronger cortisol secretion and a lower performance in the race 2 weeks later. Results are interpreted in terms of action-phase-specific mindsets with a focus on self-regulatory processes in goal disengagement.

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“…Life span development, however, might also be characterized by stability. Brunstein, Schultheiss, and Maier (1999) argue that change and continuity in personal goals are both necessary to master life transitions and to achieve a sense of developmental continuity. Baltes, Staudinger, and Lindenberger (1999) describe striving for maintenance as one of three major goals of developmental adaptation, along with attainment of gains and regulation of losses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%