Abstract
Our thoughts, actions, and feelings are all closely related to our goals. Goals are the manifestation of the things we consider important, the things we believe we are able to accomplish and also the competences we strive to acquire. Psychological research on goals analyzes the determinants and processes of goal selection, goal realization, and disengagement from goals as well as the cognitive representation of goal-related concepts. Important theoretical approaches include classical expectancy-value models (goal selection), modern theories of self-regulation (goal realization and goal disengagement), and social-cognitive theories (cognitive representation of goals). Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies examine all kinds of different goals ranging from experimentally induced goals in laboratory settings to personal goals in everyday life.
References
Aarts, H., & Custers, R. (2012). Unconscious goal pursuit: Nonconscious goal regulation and motivation. In R. Ryan (Ed.), Oxford handbook of motivation (pp. 232–247). Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press.
Aarts, H., & Elliot, A. J. (Eds.). (2012). Goal-directed behavior. New York: Psychology Press.
Ach, N. (1935). Analyse des Willens. In E. Abderhalden (Ed.), Handbuch der biologischen Arbeitsmethoden (Vol. 6). Berlin, Germany: Urban & Schwarzberg.
Ainslie, G. (1975). Specious reward: A behavioral theory of impulsiveness and impulse control. Psychological Bulletin, 82, 463–496.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing.
Ames, C., & Archer, J. (1988). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 260–267.
Atkinson, J. W. (1957). Motivational determinants of risk-taking behavior. Psychological Review, 64, 359–372.
Austin, J.T., & Vancouver, J.B. (1996). Goal constructs in psychology: structure, process and content. Psychological Bulletin, 122, 338–375.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191–215.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman.
Bargh, J. A. (1990). Auto-motives: Preconscious determinants of social interaction. In E. T. Higgins & R. M. Sorrentino (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior (pp. 93–130). New York: Guilford.
Bargh, J. A., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Oettingen, G. (2010). Motivation. In S. Fiske, D. Gilbert, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (5th ed., pp. 268–316). New York: Wiley.
Baumann, N., Kaschel, R., & Kuhl, J. (2005). Striving for unwanted goals: Stress-dependent discrepancies between explicit and implicit achievement motives reduce subjective well-being and increase psychosomatic symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 789–799.
Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252–1265.
Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529.
Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Tice, D. M. (2007). The strength model of self-control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 351–355.
Bélanger, J. J., Schori-Eyal, N., Pica, G., Kruglanski, A. W., & Lafrenière, M. A. (2015). The “more is less” effect in equifinal structures: Alternative means reduce the intensity and quality of motivation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 60, 93–102.
Brandstätter, V., & Herrmann, M. (2015). Goal disengagement in emerging adulthood: The adaptive potential of action crises. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 40, 117–125.
Brandstätter, V., & Herrmann, M. (2017). Goal disengagement and action crises. In N. Baumann, T. Goschke, M. Kazén, S. Koole, & M. Quirin (Eds.), Why people do the things they do: Building on Julius Kuhl’s contribution to motivation and volition psychology. (pp. 87–108). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
Brandstätter, V., Herrmann, M., & Schüler, J. (2013). The struggle of giving up personal goals: Affective, physiological, and cognitive consequences of an action crisis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 1668–1682.
Brandstätter, V., & Schüler, J. (2013). Action crisis and cost-benefit thinking: A cognitive analysis of a goal-disengagement phase. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 543–553.
Brandtstädter, J. (2007). Das flexible Selbst: Selbstentwicklung zwischen Zielbindung und Ablösung [The flexible self: Self-development between goal commitment and disengagement]. München, Germany: Elsevier.
Brandtstädter, J., & Rothermund, K. (2002). The life-course dynamics of goal pursuit and goal adjustment: A two-process framework. Developmental Review, 22, 117–150.
Brehm, J. W., & Self, E. A. (1989). The intensity of motivation. Annual Review of Psychology, 40, 109–131.
Brunstein, J. C. (1993). Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1061–1070.
Brunstein, J. C., Schultheiss, O. C., & Maier, G. W. (1999). The pursuit of personal goals: A motivational approach to well-being and life adjustment. In J. Brandtstädter & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Action and self-development: Theory and research through the life span (pp. 169–196). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Butler, R. (1987). Task-involving and ego-involving properties of evaluation: Effects of different feedback conditions on motivational perceptions, interest and performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 474–482.
Cantor, N., & Fleeson, W. W. (1991). Life tasks and self-regulatory processes. In M. L. Maehr & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Advances in motivation and achievement (Vol. 7, pp. 326–269). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
Carter, E. C., Kofler, L. M., Forster, D. E., & McCullough, M. E. (2015). A series of meta-analytic tests of the depletion effect: Self-control does not seem to rely on a limited resource. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, 796–815.
Carver, C. S. (2006). Approach, avoidance, and the self-regulation of affect and action. Motivation and Emotion, 30, 105–110.
Carver, C. S. (2015). Control processes, priority management, and affective dynamics. Emotion Review, 7, 301–307.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97, 19–35.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (1998). On the self-regulation of behavior. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2013). Goals and emotion. In M. D. Robinson, E. R. Watkins, & E. Harmon-Jones (Eds.),Guilford handbook of cognition and emotion. (pp. 176–194). New York: Guilford Press.
Carver, C. S., Sutton, S. K., & Scheier, M. F. (2000). Action, emotion, and personality: Emerging conceptual integration. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 741–751.
Custers, R., & Aarts, H. (2005). Positive affect as implicit motivator: On the nonconscious operation of behavioral goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 129–142.
DeCharms, R. (1968). Personal causation. The internal affective determinants of behavior. New York: Academic.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum Publishing Co.
Derryberry, D., & Reed, M. A. (2002). Anxiety-related attentional biases and their regulation by attentional control. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 111, 225–236.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset. New York: Random House.
Dweck, C. S., & Elliott, E. S. (1983). Achievement motivation. In P. Mussen & E. M. Hetherington (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (pp. 643–691). New York: Wiley.
Dweck, C. S., & Grant, H. (2008). Self-theories, goals, and meaning. In J. Y. Shah & W. L. Gardner (Eds.), Handbook of motivation science (pp. 405–416). New York: Guilford Press.
Elliot, A. J. (Ed.). (2008). Handbook of approach and avoidance motivation. New York: Psychology Press.
Elliot, A. J., Gable, S. L., & Mapes, R. R. (2006). Approach and avoidance motivation in the social domain. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32, 378–391.
Elliot, A. J., & McGregor, H. A. (1999). Test anxiety and the hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 628–644.
Elliot, A. J., McGregor, H. A., & Gable, S. (1999). Achievement goals, study strategies, and exam performance: A mediational analysis. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 91, 549–563.
Elliot, A. J., & Thrash, T. M. (2002). Approach-avoidance motivation in personality: Approach and avoidance temperaments and goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 804–818.
Elliott, E. S., & Dweck, C. S. (1988). Goals: An approach to motivation and achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 5–12.
Emmons, R. A. (1986). Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1058–1068.
Emmons, R. A. (1992). Abstract versus concrete goals: Personal striving level, physical illness, and psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 292–300.
Emmons, R. A. (1996). Striving and feeling: Personal goals and subjective well-being. In P. M. Gollwitzer & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The psychology of action: Linking cognition and motivation to behavior (pp. 313–337). New York: Guilford.
Emmons, R. A., & King, L. A. (1988). Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1040–1048.
Ferguson, M. J., & Bargh, J. A. (2004). Liking is for doing: The effects of goal pursuit on automatic evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 557–572.
Fishbach, A., & Choi, J. (2012). When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 118, 99–107.
Fishbach, A., & Dhar, R. (2005). Goals as excuses or guides: The liberating effect of perceived goal progress on choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 32, 370–377.
Fishbach, A., Friedman, R. S., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2003). Leading us not into temptation: Momentary allurements elicit overriding goal activation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 296–309.
Fitzsimons, G. M., & Fishbach, A. (2010). Shifting closeness: Interpersonal effects of personal goal progress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 535–549.
Fitzsimons, G. M., & Shah, J. Y. (2008). How goal instrumentality shapes relationship evaluations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 319–337.
Förster, J., Liberman, N., & Higgins, E. T. (2005). Accessibility from active and fulfilled goals. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 41, 220–239.
Freund, A. M., & Hennecke, M. (2012). Changing eating behaviour vs. losing weight: The role of goal focus for weight loss in overweight women. Psychology and Health, 7, 25–42.
Freund, A. M., Hennecke, M., & Riediger, M. (2010). Age-related differences in outcome and process goal focus. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 7, 198–222.
Fulford, D., Johnson, S. L., Llabre, M. M., & Carver, C. S. (2010). Pushing and coasting in dynamic goal pursuit coasting is attenuated in bipolar disorder. Psychological Science, 21(7), 1021–1027.
Gable, S. L. (2006). Approach and avoidance social motives and goals. Journal of Personality, 74, 175–222.
Gawrilow, C., Gollwitzer, P. M., & Oettingen, G. (2011). If-then plans benefit executive functions in children with ADHD. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 30, 616–646.
Gendolla, G. H., & Richter, M. (2010). Effort mobilization when the self is involved: Some lessons from the cardiovascular system. Review of General Psychology, 14, 212–226.
Ghassemi, M., Bernecker, K., Herrmann, M., & Brandstätter, V. (2017). The process of disengagement from personal goals: Reciprocal influences between the experience of action crisis and appraisals of goal desirability and attainability. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43, 524–537.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1990). Action phases and mind-sets. In E. T. Higgins & R. M. Sorrentino (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behaviour (Vol. 2, pp. 53–92). New York: Guilford.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1993). Goal achievement: The role of intentions. European Review of Social Psychology, 4, 141–185.
Gollwitzer, P. M. (2012). Mindset theory of action phases. In P. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 526–545). London: Sage.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Kirchhof, O. (1998). The willful pursuit of identity. In J. Heckhausen & C. S. Dweck (Eds.), Life-span perspectives on motivation and control (pp. 389–423). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
Goschke, T., & Kuhl, J. (1993). The representation of intentions: Persisting activation in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 1211–1226.
Grant, H., & Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 541–553.
Gray, J. A. (1990). Brain systems that mediate both emotion and cognition. Cognition & Emotion, 4, 269–288.
Hagger, M. S., Wood, C., Stiff, C., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2010). Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 495–525.
Harackiewicz, J. M., Barron, K. E., Tauer, J. M., & Elliot, A. J. (2002). Predicting success in college: A longitudinal study of achievement goals and ability measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(3), 562–575.
Heckhausen, H. (1977). Achievement motivation and its constructs: A cognitive model. Motivation and Emotion, 1, 283–329.
Heckhausen, H. (1991). Motivation and action. New York: Springer.
Heckhausen, H., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (1987). Thought contents and cognitive functioning in motivational versus volitional states of mind. Motivation and Emotion, 11, 101–120.
Heckhausen, J. (1991). Adults’ expectancies about development and its controllability: Enhancing self-efficacy by social comparisons. In R. Schwarzer (Ed.), Self-efficacy: Thought control of action (pp. 107–126). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.
Heckhausen, J. (1999). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age-normative and sociostructural constraints as adaptive challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Heckhausen, J., Wrosch, C., & Schulz, R. (2010). A motivational theory of life-span development. Psychological Review, 117, 32–60.
Herrmann, M., & Brandstätter, V. (2015). Action crises and goal disengagement: Longitudinal evidence on the predictive validity of a motivational phase in goal striving. Motivation Science, 1, 121–136.
Higgins, E. T. (1987). Self-discrepancy: A theory relating self and affect. Psychological Review, 94(3), 319–340.
Higgins, E. T. (1997). Beyond pleasure and pain. American Psychologist, 52, 1280–1300.
Higgins, E. T. (1998). Promotion and prevention: Regulatory focus as a motivational principle. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 1–46.
Hofer, J., & Chasiotis, A. (2003). Congruence of life goals and implicit motives as predictors of life satisfaction: Cross-cultural implications of a study of Zambian male adolescent. Motivation and Emotion, 27, 251–272.
Hollenbeck, J. R., & Klein, H. J. (1987). Goal commitment and the goal setting process: Problems, prospects, and proposals for future research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 72, 212–220.
Impett, E. A., Gable, S. L., & Peplau, L. A. (2005). Giving up and giving in: The costs and benefits of daily sacrifice in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89, 327–344.
Impett, E. A., Strachman, A., Finkel, E. J., & Gable, S. L. (2008). Maintaining sexual desire in intimate relationships: The importance of approach goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 808–823.
Inzlicht, M., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2012). What is ego depletion? Toward a mechanistic revision of the resource model of self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 450–463.
Jagacinski, C. M., & Nicholls, J. G. (1987). Competence and affect in task involvement and ego involvement: The impact of social comparison information. Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 107–114.
Job, V., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2010). Ego depletion – Is it all in your head? Implicit theories about willpower affect self-regulation. Psychological Science, 21, 1686–1693.
Kazén, M., & Kuhl, J. (2011). Directional discrepancy between implicit and explicit power motives is related to well-being among managers. Motivation and Emotion, 35, 317–327.
Kehr, H. M. (2004). Implicit/explicit motive discrepancies and volitional depletion among managers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 315–327.
Klinger, E. (1977). Meaning and void: Inner experience and the incentives in people’s lives. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Krampen, G. (1988). Toward an action-theoretical model of personality. European Journal of Personality, 2, 39–55.
Kruglanski, A. W., Chernikova, M., Babush, M., Dugas, M., & Schumpe, B. M. (2015). The architecture of goal systems: Multifinality, equifinality, and counterfinality in means-end relations. Advances in Motivation Science, 2, 69–98.
Kruglanski, A. W., Shah, J. Y., Fishbach, A., Friedman, R., Chun, W. Y., & Sleeth-Keppler, D. (2002). A theory of goal-systems. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 34, pp. 331–378).
Kuhl, J. (1984). Motivational aspects of achievement motivation and learned helplessness: Toward a comprehensive theory of action control. In B. A. Maher & W. B. Maher (Eds.), Progress in experimental personality research (Vol. 13, pp. 99–171). New York: Academic.
Kuhl, J. (1994). Action and state orientation: Psychometric properties of the action control scales (ACS-90). In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Volition and personality: Action versus state orientation (pp. 47–59). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
Kuhl, J. (2001). Motivation und Persönlichkeit: Interaktionen psychischer Systeme. Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
Kuhl, J., & Goschke, T. (1994). State orientation and the activation and retrieval of intentions from memory. In J. Kuhl & J. Beckmann (Eds.), Volition and personality: Action versus state orientation (pp. 127–154). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
Kuhl, J., & Kazén, M. (1994). Self-discrimination and memory: State orientation and false self-ascription of assigned activities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 1103–1115.
Kuster, M., Bernecker, K., Backes, S., Brandstätter, V., Nussbeck, F. W., Bradbury, T. N., Martin, M., Sutter-Stickel, D., & Bodenmann, G. (2015). Avoidance orientation and the escalation of negative communication in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 262–275.
Latham, G. P., & Baldes, J. J. (1975). The “practical significance” of Locke’s theory of goal setting. Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 122–124.
Lewin, K. (1926). Untersuchungen zur Handlungs- und Affekt-Psychologie II: Vorsatz, Wille und Bedürfnis. Psychologische Forschung, 7, 330–385.
Lewin, K. (1935). A dynamic theory of personality: Selected papers. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Lewin, K. (1951). Behavior and development as a function of the total situation. In D. Cartwright (Ed.). Field theory in social science. Selected theoretical papers by Kurt Lewin (pp. 238–303). New York: Harper.
Little, B. R. (1989). Personal projects analysis: Trivial pursuits, magnificent obsessions, and the search for coherence. In D. M. Buss & N. Cantor (Eds.), Personality psychology: Recent trends and emerging directions (pp. 15–31). New York: Springer.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (Eds.). (2013). New developments in goal setting and task performance. New York: Routledge.
Loewenstein, G. (1992). The fall and rise of psychological explanations in the economics of intertemporal choice. In G. Loewenstein & L. Elster (Eds.), Choice over time (pp. 3–34). New York: Russell Sage.
Louro, M. J., Pieters, R., & Zeelenberg, M. (2007). Dynamics of multiple-goal pursuit. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 174–193.
Markus, H., & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41, 954–969.
McClelland, D. C. (1985). Human motivation. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
McGregor, H. A., & Elliot, A. J. (2002). Achievement goals as predictors of achievement-relevant processes prior to task engagement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 381–395.
Meece, J. L., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Hoyle, R. H. (1988). Students’ goal orientations and cognitive engagement in classroom activities. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(4), 514–523.
Metcalfe, J., & Mischel, W. (1999). A hot/cool-system analysis of delay of gratification: Dynamics of will-power. Psychological Review, 106, 3–19.
Meyer, D. E., & Schvaneveldt, R. W. (1971). Facilitation in recognizing pairs of words: Evidence of a dependence between retrieval operations. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 90(2), 227–234.
Miller, G. A., Galanter, E., & Pribram, K. H. (1960). Plans and the structure of behavior. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Miller, G. E., & Wrosch, C. (2007). You’ve gotta know when to fold ‘em: Goal disengagement and systemic inflammation in adolescence. Psychological Science, 18, 773–777.
Mischel, W. (1974). Processes in delay of gratification. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 7, 249–292.
Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L. (1989). Delay of gratification in children. Science, 244, 933–938.
Moskowitz, G. B., & Grant, H. (Eds.). (2009). The psychology of goals. New York: Guilford.
Muraven, M., & Slessareva, E. (2003). Mechanisms of self-control failure: Motivation and limited resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 894–906.
Oertig, D., Schüler, J., Schnelle, J., Brandstätter, V., Roskes, M., & Elliot, A. J. (2013). Avoidance goal pursuit depletes self-regulatory resources. Journal of Personality, 81, 365–375.
Oettingen, G. (2012). Future thought and behavior change. European Review of Social Psychology, 23, 1–63.
Oettingen, G., Pak, H., & Schnetter, K. (2001). Self-regulation of goal setting: Turning free fantasies about the future in binding goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 736–753.
Öhman, A., Flykt, A., & Esteves, F. (2001). Emotion drives attention: Detecting the snake in the grass. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130, 466–478.
Powers, W. T. (1973). Behavior: The control of perception. Chicago: Aldine.
Puca, R., & M. (2005). The influence of the achievement motive on probability estimates in pre-and post-decisional action phases. Journal of Research in Personality, 39, 245–262.
Puca, R. M. (2004). Action phases and goal setting: Being optimistic after decision making without getting into trouble. Motivation and Emotion, 28, 121–145.
Rattan, A., Savani, K., Chugh, D., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Leveraging mindsets to promote academic achievement: Policy recommendations. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 10, 721–726.
Rheinberg, F. (1989). Zweck und Tätigkeit. Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.
Richter, M., Friedrich, A., & Gendolla, G. H. E. (2008). Task difficulty effects on cardiac activity. Psychophysiology, 45, 869–875.
Riediger, M., & Freund, A. M. (2004). Interference and facilitation among personal goals: Differential associations with subjective well-being and persistent goal pursuit. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 1511–1523.
Roeser, R. W., Midgely, C., & Urdan, T. C. (1996). Perceptions of the school psychological environment and early adolescents’ psychological and behavioral functioning in school: The mediating role of goals and belonging. Journal of Educational Psychology, 88, 408–422.
Salmela-Aro, K. (2009). Personal goals and well-being during critical life transitions: The four C’s – Channelling, choice, co-agency and compensation. Advances in Life Course Research, 14, 63–73.
Schüler, J., Job, V., Fröhlich, S. M., & Brandstätter, V. (2008). A high implicit affiliation motive does not always make you happy: A corresponding explicit motive and corresponding behavior are further needed. Motivation and Emotion, 32, 231–242.
Schultheiss, O. C., & Brunstein, J. C. (Eds.). (2010). Implicit motives. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schwartz, S. H., & Bilsky, W. (1990). Toward a theory of the universal content and structure of values: Extensions and cross-cultural replications. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 878–891.
Shah, J. Y., Friedman, R., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2002). Forgetting all else: On the antecedents and consequences of goal shielding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 1261–1280.
Shah, J. Y., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2003). When opportunity knocks: Bottom-up priming of goals by means and its effects on self-regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 1109–1122.
Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1999). Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: The self-concordance model. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 482–497.
Stiensmeier-Pelster, J. (1988). Erlernte Hilflosigkeit, Handlungskontrolle und Leistung. Berlin, Germany: Springer.
Tice, D. M., Baumeister, R. F., Shmueli, D., & Muraven, M. (2007). Restoring the self: Positive affects help improve self-regulation following ego depletion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 379–384.
Vroom, V. H. (1964). Work and motivation. New York: Wiley.
White, R. W. (1959). Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence. Psychological Review, 66, 297–333.
Wicklund, R. A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (1982). Symbolic self-completion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wiese, B. S., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2008). Goal conflict and facilitation as predictors of work-family satisfaction and engagement. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, 490–497.
Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., Carver, C. S., & Schulz, R. (2003). The importance of goal disengagement in adaptive self-regulation: When giving up is beneficial. Self and Identity, 2, 1–20.
Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., & Miller, G. E. (2013). Goal adjustment capacities, subjective well-being, and physical health. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 847–860.
Zeigarnik, B. (1927). Über das Behalten von erledigten und unerledigten Handlungen. Psychologische Forschung, 9, 1–85.
Zhang, Y., Fishbach, A., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2007). The dilution model: How additional goals undermine the perceived instrumentality of a shared path. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 389–401.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Brandstätter, V., Hennecke, M. (2018). Goals. In: Heckhausen, J., Heckhausen, H. (eds) Motivation and Action . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65094-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65094-4_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-65093-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-65094-4
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)