8 Successful goal pursuit
Peter M. Gollvvitzer
What can today's psychology of motivation reply to the layman's question of
"How do I attain my goals?" Most importantly, nowadays, research on the psychology of goals suggests that this question needs to be broken down by differentiating between successful goal setting and successful goal implemen- tation. Th€distinction between goal setting and goal striving was originally emphasized by the German psychologist Kurt Lewin (1926). Itturns out to be very useful for understanding the many new findings produced by the renais- sance of research on goals (Gollwitzer & Moskowitz, 1996; Oettingen &
Gollwitzer, 2001), and thus we will use it to organize our answer to the ques- tion of what people can do to increase their chances of meeting their goals.
Selecting appropriate goals
If people want to increase the chances of meeting their goals they need to first select appropriate goals. It seems wise to select goals to which one can com- mit strongly, as strong goals (intentions) have a better chance of being attained (Ajzen, 1991). Strong goal commitments are commonly based on the belief that a given goal is both desirable and feasible. The person should thus consult their needs and motives to determine the desirability of a goal (Brunstein, Schultheiss, & Grassmann, 1998) and to determine its feasibility.
On the other hand, it is necessary to reflect on one's skills, talents, and com- petencies, as well as the likelihood that goal-related outcomes will lead to desired consequences (Bandura, 1997; Heckhausen, 1977). It is important to recognize, however, that perceiving a goal as highly feasible and attractive does not yet make for strong goal commitments. Recent research suggests that a certain mode of thinking about the desired future (i.e., mentally con- trasting the desired future with the obstacles of present reality) is needed first.
Ifpeople simply dream about a positive future, or only dwell on the negative reality, it is not guaranteed that high-feasibility beliefs are indeed translated into strong goal commitments (Oettingen, Pak, & Schnetter, 2001).
It also matters how the desired goal state is framed. Researchers have discovered that conceptualizing one's goals in terms of promoting positive outcomes vs preventing negative outcomes (promotion vs prevention goals;
First publ. in: Psychological science around the world. Vol. 1 / ed. by Qicheng Jing ... London: Taylor & Francis, 2006, pp. 143-159
Konstanzer Online-Publikations-System (KOPS) URL: http://www.ub.uni-konstanz.de/kops/volltexte/2008/5651/
URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-56519
