Task 2 - The Ultimate Goal Flashcards
Goal
object or aim of an action e.g. to attain a specific standard of proficiency (skill)
- usually within a time-limit and serve a directive function (towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal irrelevant)
- Mental representation of desired outcomes to which people are committed
- helps people to change the discrepancy between current and desired state
- intention is not enough to pursue goal
Goal-Setting Theory (Locke & Latham)
Moderators
- goal commitment (importance & self-efficacy)
- feedback
- task complexity
Goal-Setting Theory (Locke & Latham)
Mediators
- choice/direction
- effort
- persistence
- task strategy
Goal setting
which goals one wants to pursue
- part of self-regulation / reduce discrepancy of present + desired situation
Variation of dimensions that influence subsequent goal pursuit:
- level of specificity
- proximity to the end state
- motivational orientation (approach vs avoidance goals)
- level of difficulty (easy vs challenging)
- goal type (performance vs mastery)
Distal Goals
- Long-term
- fuzzy
- more flexible
- more motivation
(i.e. wanting to eat healthier)
Proximal Goals
- short- term
- planning
- self-control
(i.e. eat one apple a day)
Approach Goals
oriented towards securing desired outcome
- reduce distance to desire end-state
- more effective (higher levels of achievement and success)
Avoidance Goals
oriented toward avoiding unwanted outcomes
- increase distance to desired end-state
- more associated with negative outcomes (lower well-being and higher depression)
Performance Goal
/ Performance Approach pattern
extent to which they involve the achievement of a specific standard (i.e. become 1st in dance competition)
- focus on result
- demonstrate ability
- receive favourable evaluation
- competitive
- reduce performance
- short-term setbacks are inadequate
Mastery Goals
extent to which they involve the development of a skill (i.e learn to eat balanced meal)
- focus on skill development, task mastery & attempts to meet personal standards of accomplishment and success
- challenging oneself for the sake of skill development and self-improvement
- positive challenge
- enhanced memory and well-being
- greater intrinsic motivation
- short-term setbacks are helpful
challenging vs easy goals
- goals should be SMART
Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely
- difficult goals lead to better performance
Goal Selection
Expectancies
- self-efficacy
> high –> challenging goals
> low –> not challenging goals - possible selves (positive or negative)
Goal Selection
Self and Values
- ideas about self
- self-perception
- value of activity
Goal Selection
Personality
- autonomy –> Mastery goals
- Control –> performance- approach and performance-avoidance goals
- motivation –> performance-avoidance goals
Goal-striving
planning and executing actions that promote goal-attainment and shielding goals from distraction
- ways in which people manage their thoughts and actions while working toward an outcome
Prospection and planning (Implementation/Intervention to achieve goals strategy 1)
- visualising and mentally rehearsing goal-directed behaviour – > mental simulation
- anticipate events that could lead to temptation
- use protection to identify obstacles & challenges that people can face while pursuing their goal
Automating behaviour
Implementation/Intervention to achieve goals strategy 2
- consistently engage in goal-directed behaviour
- cued habits (context can elicit goal-striving)
- implementation intentions (tenacious = persist despite obstacles/increasing difficulty, flexible = back off when success unlikely or unjustified)
- require less cognitive resources
Construal
(Implementation/Intervention to achieve goals strategy 3)
change in how people understand events over time
- changing people’s construal promotes goal-directed behaviours
- -> since plans can be positive in future & negative in now
- explains why behaviour seems positive and desirable in distant future, but undesirable once future becomes now
- ppl need to align their immediate construal’s with their distanced, abstract construal’s
Effortful Inhibition
Implementation/Intervention to achieve goals strategy 4
- protect goal from distraction and disruption, rather than directly trying to attain goal
- often not effective, usually unsuccessful
- -> as dual-system theory states that motivation depletion can hamper goal achievement
- requires a lot of resources
Personality and Goal Striving
Personality differences in self-determination predict situation specific goal striving processes
- goal level: higher order or lower order goal
- mental focus: degree to which someone is able to concentrate and become absorbed in inactivity
- personality characteristics (autonomy, control, motivation) indirectly influence outcomes (performance and enjoyment) through achievement goal patterns, goal level and mental focus
Self-Control
capacity to regulate attention, emotion and behaviour in presence of temptation
–> coupled with everyday success
Grit
Tenacious pursuit of dominant goal despite setbacks, determination, effort
–> coupled with exceptional achievements (over decades)
Hierarchical Goal Framework (Duckworth and Gross)
Goals are typically organised hierarchically, with fewer high-level goals and numerous low-level goals
- lower-level goals are associate with action tendencies (attention, emotion and behaviour)
- self-control
- grit
Self-Control in Hierarchical Goal Framework
Successful resolution of conflict between two action impulses
- one goal has higher value at the moment
- whereas other has long-term value
- -> one needs to be suppressed first
Grit in Hierachical Goal Framework
Tenaciously (beharrlich), over long time working towards dominant superordinate goal (top of hierarchy) despite setbacks
- people with grit can suppress rival superordinate goals or do not have competing ones
- obstacle: sprout new lower-order goals
Performance-approach pattern
- oriented towards displaying competence & earning favourable judgement
- focused on doing well
- requires self-confidence
- more likely to set goals themselves & believing to achieve those goals
Performance-avoidance Pattern
- involves an attempt to avoid failure
- focused on evaluation of others (avoidance to look incompetent)
- promotes worry & anxiety, self-criticism, difficulty to concentrate
- suggests a lack od confidence in one’s abilities to perform well
- easier goals = more appealing
Autonomy orientation
- disposition to attend to environmental cues that signal personal interest & option for free choice of behaviour
- positively related to self-esteem & Self-awareness, internal locus of control
- negatively related to boredom at work
- related to having greater cognitive efficiency, feeling more competent & feelings of enjoyment
Control orientation
- associated with an awareness of info pertaining to constraints (e.g. expectations of authority figures or societal constraints)
- people tend to see their behaviours as constrained/controlled by others
- more likely to have extrinsic motivation
- negatively related to academic performance & commitment
Amotivation orientation
involves sensitivity to signals that one is incompetent & likely tp be unsuccessful at a given activity
- correlated with performance-avoidant goals
- related to low self-esteem, tendency to derogate oneself, depression, external focus of control, perceiving oneself as ineffective in achievement setting
Barriers to successful goal achievement
- being unaware of (health) consequences
- feeling invulnerable to those (health) consequences
- being overwhelmed with contradictory information regarding that topic
- inconsistency with self-image or identity
- goals compete with other important life domains
- faulty goal setting
- lack of adequate goal striving skills/self-regulation
- affect (negative vs positive affect)
Goals Should…
to be achievable
be
- mastery goals (development of a skill/improving of an ability)
- have an approach-orientation (reducing distance to end-state)
- intrinsically motivated
people should…
to achieve goal
- commit to (health) goals that are consistent with other personal goals
- properly specify & frame these goals
- plan & execute goal-directed behaviours in appropriate context
- think about obstacles distractions and temptations
- carefully select goal setting and striving strategies
Types of Goals (hierarchical order)
lower-order goals
higher-order goals
superordinate goals
Lower-order goals (types of goals)
- numerous
- context specific
- short-term
- substitutable
higher-order goals (types of goals)
- fewer
- more abstract
- more enduring
- more important to the individual
(than lower-order goals)
superordinate goals
more strongly related to grit
