The Psychology Of Goals 6k4g3d

The Psychology of

Goals

► ―We

cannot think, feel, will, or act without the perception of some goal. . . . All activity would persist in the stage of uncontrolled groupings; the economy visible in our psychic life unattained.‖  Alfred Adler

► Goals

are the ―guides‖ that direct all nonreflexive and non-accidental human responding.

Human response ► reflexive

responses ► accidental responses ► maintain a desired state ► willpower

4 Themes in the Study of Goals ►

Goals Connect the Person to the Situation

 Goals, as mental representations that are linked to cues in the environment, connect the person to the situation through specifying desirability (affect and value) and feasibility (efficacy and opportunity).

►

Goals Provide Meaning

 Goals provide the person with meaning and a sense of having control over his/her environment.

►

Goals Provide a Basis for Instrumental Activity

 Goals connect the wants of the person to instrumental activity (cognitive and behavioral activity), directing his/her commerce with the world.

►

Goals and Consciousness

 Goals have consequences that do not require consciousness of either the goal or the consequences—one need not experience a sense of being willful.

WHAT ARE GOALS ? ► What

Is So Special (and Non-special) about Goals?: A View from the Cognitive Perspective ► Goals in the Context of the Hierarchical Model of Approach–Avoidance Motivation ► Goal Content Theories: Why Differences in What We Are Striving for Matter ► The Neuroscience of Goal Pursuit: Bridging Gaps between Theory and Data ► The Selfish Goal

HOW ARE GOALS SELECTED? ► Fantasies

and Motivationally Intelligent Goal

Setting ► How Does Our Unconscious Know What We Want?: The Role of Affect in Goal Representations ► Goal Priming ► Moments of Motivation: Margins of Opportunity in Managing the Efficacy, Need, and Transitions of Striving

HOW ARE GOALS PURSUED? Five Markers of Motivated Behavior ► Normal and Pathological Consequences of Encountering Difficulties in Monitoring Progress toward Goals ► The Compensatory Nature of Goal Pursuit: From Explicit Action to Implicit Cognition ► When Persistence Is Futile: A Functional Analysis of Action Orientation and Goal Disengagement ► Goal Implementation: The Benefits and Costs of If–Then Planning ► Regulatory Focus: Classic Findings and New Directions ►

CONSEQUENCES OF GOAL PURSUIT ► Self-Regulatory

Resource Depletion: A Model for Understanding the Limited Nature of Goal Pursuit ► Goals and (Implicit) Attitudes: A SocialCognitive Perspective ► Mystery Moods: Their Origins and Consequences ► Regulatory Fit in the Goal-Pursuit Process