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Maintaining Activity Engagement: Individual Differences in the Process of Self‐Regulating Motivation
Author(s) -
Sansone Carol,
Thoman Dustin B.
Publication year - 2006
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/j.1467-6494.2006.00425.x
Subject(s) - psychology , process (computing) , goal theory , self determination theory , social psychology , value (mathematics) , persistence (discontinuity) , goal pursuit , intrinsic motivation , goal orientation , cognitive psychology , autonomy , computer science , geotechnical engineering , machine learning , political science , law , engineering , operating system
Typically, models of self‐regulation include motivation in terms of goals. Motivation is proposed to differ among individuals as a consequence of the goals they hold as well as how much they value those goals and expect to attain them. We suggest that goal‐defined motivation is only one source of motivation critical for sustained engagement. A second source is the motivation that arises from the degree of interest experienced in the process of goal pursuit. Our model integrates both sources of motivation within the goal‐striving process and suggests that individuals may actively monitor and regulate them. Conceptualizing motivation in terms of a self‐regulatory process provides an organizing framework for understanding how individuals might differ in whether they experience interest while working toward goals, whether they persist without interest, and whether and how they try to create interest. We first present the self‐regulation of motivation model and then review research illustrating how the consideration of individual differences at different points in the process allows a better understanding of variability in people's choices, efforts, and persistence over time.