Personal Goals as Windows to Well-Being Goals explain the “whys” of our behavior - theory Almost all behavior has purpose from washing dishes to getting a college degree Who we are: Goals reflect needs, values, motives, personality, experience Goals define and express the particulars of who we are and why we what we Many general motives are shared, e.g., belongingness - fulfill differently Energy & coherence in journey through life: Motivation: Energize action, give purpose, meaning, and direction to life Coherence: Goals central part of journey through life Connect past, present & future Give coherence to life by connecting short-term and longer-term purposes & smaller to larger goals Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Goals connect “having & doing” Having - resources - material & personal - personality traits, social skills, talents, social support, finances, optimistic attitude, etc Doing - developing meaningful goals - pursuing personally significant activities Goals as the action side of personality Goals combine who we are with who we want to become through intentional, consciously controlled actions Major vehicle for self change Antidote to mindless, reactive, rudderless life Infuse life with own purposes, directions, & desires (personal ownership) Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Goal Research Goals give look at “here & now” individual on-line command center Not imposing researchers’ ideas about what is important Assess what is important to each individual - individual not researcher defines goals Each participant defines own important goals - not from a predetermined list Goals as Windows to Well-Being What people are about - goals and life purposes Satisfaction with life - some better than others Improving life - change begins with goal to be different Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Do our goals make a difference? Example: Student uncertainty about major and future career Goals & Unhappiness Emmons - conflict, ambivalence, confusion about goals and purposes in life consistently associated with unhappiness & distress Baumeister - unrealistic standards for self-evaluation - Perfectionists at risk for clinical depression - -Unrealistic standards imposed by self or others to gain self-approval or approval from others - Difficulty & inability meet perfectionist standards causes stress, frustration, low self-esteem, depression, and “escape from self.” Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Goals & Happiness -Independent contribution: Harlow & Cantor - older adults - Factor out resources: health, finances, social support, congeniality, and prior life satisfaction - engagement in meaningful goals produces higher well-being & happiness Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Defining Personal Goals Goals are internal representation of desired states States refer to outcomes, events, or processes Outcomes: graduating from college, meeting new friends, losing weight Events: planning a wedding, get together with friends Process: activities enjoyable in own right, reading, nature walk, sports, etc Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Goals are Cognitive: Representation: mental representation of future desired states Need or desire: visual image - thought - if/then story scenarios Memory/experience from past - approach or avoid Goals are Emotion-Motivational Positive & negative thoughts thinking about achieving or failing to achieve, progress, & successful or unsuccessful attainment Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Operational Definitions Personal Projects (Little): “We are interested in studying the kinds of activities and concerns that people have in their lives We call these personal projects All of us have a number of personal projects at any given time that we think about, plan for, carry and out, and sometimes (but not always) complete.” Personal Strivings (Emmons) “The things you are typically or characteristically trying to in your everyday behavior.” May be positive objectives or things negative events trying to avoid Focus on recurring goals not one-time goals Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Life Tasks (Cantor) “One way to think about goals is to think about ‘current life tasks.’” For example, imagine a retired person The following three life tasks may emerge for the individual as he or she faces this difficult time: (1.) being productive without a job; (2.) shaping a satisfying role with grown children and their families; (3.) enjoying leisure time and activities “These specific tasks constitute important goals since the individual’s energies will be directed towards solving them.” Participants in the study are then asked to describe all their current life tasks Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Zirkel & Cantor: College students: academic success, establishing future goals & plans, making new friends, learning to be independent of family, develop own unique identity, balancing time between academics and socializing Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Personal Goals Across Cultures (continued) Image: having an appealing appearance (body & clothing) that others find attractive Physically Healthy: being physically healthy and free of sickness Popularity: being admired by others, well-known or famous Safety: able to live without threats to personal safety and security 10 Self-Acceptance: feeling competent, self-aware, selfdirected, and autonomous 11 Spirituality: developing a spiritual/religious understanding of the world Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Underlying Goal Dimensions Two underlying structures - goals grouped together Instrinsic versus Extrinsic Goals -Intrinsic goals connected to important psychological needs Self-acceptance, affiliation, community feeling, health & safety -Extrinsic goals express desire for external rewards, praise & admiration from others Financial success, image, popularity, & conformity Physical versus Self-Transcendent Goals -Physical goals overlaps some with extrinsic Hedonism, pleasure & pain, safety security, good health, $$ -Self-transcendence overlaps some with intrinsic Spiritual/religious understanding of life, community feeling, conformity, acceptance by others, and fulfilling social obligations Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Classifying Individual Goals Commonality:Template for Content of Human Goals Develop goals in life by considering: Psychological needs - esteem- intrinsic - personal expressive Physical Survival - security & safety Pleasure - enjoyment Desires for external rewards & praise Desire for meaningful place in bigger picture - transcendence Individual Differences in Goals Individuals assign different degrees of importance & emphasis to each of these four goal dimensions Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Goals Expressing Self: Our Goals Define Who We Are Whatever source, goals come to rest in self Piece of self in each of our goals Goals both define and express who we are Self-descriptions include goals and aspirations, past goal achievements, goals working on in present Self includes future possible selves Possible selves = all futures can imagine for ourselves Who we want and who we don’t want to become Future self embodies most important goals and motivation for self-change Goals motivational connect past & present to future I.e., student experiencing family hardship after divorce past self - present & future self Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Goals and Well-Being Life Requires choices - many options but limited time & resources College majors, line of work, hobbies, etc Joseph Campbell - “Having climbed the ladder of success, I realized my ladder was up against the wrong wall.” Research: Which goals most satisfying & fulfilling to pursue? Where to spend our time and energy? Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved General Findings: Achieving or making progress towards personally-important goals makes us feel good More important the goal - more satisfaction Washing car versus graduating from college How-so-ever: Not all goals created equal in impact of satisfaction Some “important” goals doggedly pursued make us unhappy Both the “what” (goal content) and the “why” (motive) matter Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Which Goals and Reasons for Pursuing Them? The Matching Hypothesis Consistent research finding: Goals that match, fit, express, or fulfill individual needs, values, self-conception, personality are most satisfying to pursue and achieve Opposite also true: mismatched goals and needs or goals and achievement = dissatisfaction Academically gifted - wants but has few friends Lots of friends - wants but struggling academically Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Research: Measure personal goals Measure needs, values, self-concept Measure well-being - often longitudinal Assess degree of match and correlate with wellbeing More match = more well-being = matching hypothesis Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Example Study Oishi, Diener, Suh & Lucas - 1999 College students listed important personal goals, completed Schwartz’s value survey, kept track of daily well-being over 23 days in diary, made satisfaction ratings in value-related life domains - achievement, family, helping others, etc Results: Daily well-being - having a “good day” and global well-being - feeling good about life high related to success/progress in value-related activity e.g.: Achievement - good test scores, grades Conformity - satisfaction with family life Benevolence - satisfying social interactions Success in low priority areas values & success much less impact on wellbeing Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Why Matching? Three Explanations Personal Goals and Self-realization Goals express needs, values, defining personal qualities likely to produce feelings of intense involvement and meaningfulness Expressing “true” self Waterman: personally expressive activities evoke feelings that: “This is who I am” & “this is what I was meant to do.” Eudaimonic happiness - may not be “fun” but deeply rewarding & meaningful E.g., being a parent of small children Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Goals Matched goals likely to be intrinsically enjoyable rather than pursued for extrinsic rewards like money or praise from others Emphasis is on enjoyment of the doing rather than reward at the end Domination of activities by extrinsic rewards often decreases enjoyment and satisfaction… “Doing it just for the reward.” Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Why Matching? Autonomous versus Controlled Motivation Reasons behind pursing a goal: Autonomous - freely chosen, sense of ownership, “my” goals Associated with enhanced well-being Controlled - not “my” goals - have to this, others want me to, need the money, feel guilty if I don’t, imposed by me, others or circumstances Associated with diminished well-being Goals that match more likely to be freely chosen But qualification: a goal that matches, but not autonomously chosen, may not increase well-being Autonomy may trump matching Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Happiness & Success in College Matching – Self-Concordance Model 200 freshmen @ U of Missouri Listed most important goals E.g., getting good grades, making new friends, joining organizations, not gaining weight, weekly contact with parents, learning to live more independently Rated each goal and reason for college attendance according to four reasons below - arranged from most to least controlled Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved External reasons refer to the rewards, approval, praise or situational demands that explain why we may strive for a goal “You strive for this goal because somebody else wants you to, or because the situation seems to compel it.” **Parent, friends, get a good job must Introjected reasons refer to the negative inner emotions that we may experience if we don’t try to attain certain goals “You strive for this goal because you would feel ashamed, guilty, or anxious if you didn’t.” **Feel guilty anxious, left out if don’t go Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Identified reasons refer to valuing a goal because of its personal importance A person may have come to see a goal as important because of others, for example learning the value of helping others or respecting the environment from a parent or teacher However, the goal is now wholeheartedly endorsed “You strive for this goal because you really believe it’s an important goal to have.” **Value importance of college education Learned value from teacher or parent Intrinsic reasons refer to the emotional pleasure and enjoyment that pursuing the goal provides “You strive for this goal because the enjoyment or stimulation which that goal provides you.” **Look forward to meeting new friends, people with different lifestyles, learning new ideas…exploring life options Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved Results • Freshmen with identified or intrinsic reasons for attending college had higher grades more success in achieving personal goals, staying healthy, adjusting to college, and overall happiness in college compared to those with extrinsic or introjected reasons Students with intrinsic and identified motivations for college attendance had semester grades higher than those predicted by their ACT scores….smarts versus motives Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458 All rights reserved ... optimistic attitude, etc Doing - developing meaningful goals - pursuing personally significant activities Goals as the action side of personality Goals combine who we are with who we want to become... in meaningful goals produces higher well-being & happiness Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ 074 58 All rights reserved Defining Personal Goals Goals are internal... NJ 074 58 All rights reserved Classifying Individual Goals Commonality:Template for Content of Human Goals Develop goals in life by considering: Psychological needs - esteem- intrinsic - personal