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Personal Goals in Social Roles: Divergences and Convergences Across Roles and Levels of Analysis
Author(s) -
Sheldon Ken M.,
Elliot Andrew J.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6494.00091
Subject(s) - deci , friendship , psychology , social psychology , romance , developmental psychology , autonomy , political science , psychoanalysis , law
Most contemporary personal goal research aggregates across goals, perhaps masking important differences between goals. We assessed this risk by examining both similarities and differences between the goals that participants pursued in five important social roles. Previous relevant findings (Cantor, Norem, Niedenthal, Langston, & Brower, 1987) and self‐determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985) were used to predict between‐role differences in goal appraisal dimensions. Although theoretically meaningful differences were found across child, employee, romantic, friendship, and student goals, and also across within‐ and between‐subject levels of analysis, all goals were essentially the same in one important way: Making longitudinal progress in them predicted positive change in accompanying role‐circumstances and role‐satisfaction (excepting friendship goals). This indicates that researchers do not necessarily lose information by aggregating, and affirms that goal‐attainment is generally desirable.