material self

• Symbolic self-completion


  A theory that argues many of the activities individuals enact, such as the possessions they purchase, are intended to substantiate their definition of themselves and clarify their identity
• Symbolic self-completion theory is especially prevalent when individuals feel uncertain or threatened
• Self-defining


  People predicate of themselves some quality that corresponds to a sense of control and capability, such as "parent," "athlete," or "artist", and these goals are defined by interacting with others and require social recognition
• Commitment to self-defining goals


  A goal-specific tension remains active only as long as the person is psychologically involved in the pursuit of the goal, and the resumption effects are strongest when the task is personally important
• Symbols of completeness


  Indicators of one's standing with respect to self-defining goals that are potentially recognizable by others, such as self-descriptions, status symbols, education attained, occupying a position, or performance of the act itself
• Social reality


  The sense of progress toward a self-defining goal is dependent on the acknowledgment of others, and the scope of individuals who would potentially recognize the completeness of the self-definition can be enlarged
• Reasons why people fail to reach personal goals


  • Lack of clear, specific goals
  • Failure to monitor progress
  • Insufficient self-regulatory strength
• Self-regulatory strength


  A person's capacity to exercise self-control to alter their typical way of responding, which is a limited resource that can be quickly depleted
• Implementation plans


  Mental planning exercises in which goal setters specify when and where they will initiate their goal pursuit and how they will ensure persistence, transforming conscious goals into automatic habits
• Readiness


  The extent to which individuals feel they are well prepared to pursue their goal at a particular time
• Self-efficacy


  A sense of confidence in one's ability to perform specific actions that lead to desired outcomes, which is associated with enhanced effort, commitment, goal selection, focus, and perseverance
• Autonomous motivation


  Pursuing a goal for personal reasons and importance, versus controlled motivation driven by external pressures or rewards
• Autonomy support


  Taking another's perspective, acknowledging feelings, and encouraging self-initiation and self-direction, versus controlling which pressures someone to act, think, or feel in a particular way
• Autonomous motivation and autonomy support


  Both play an important role in achieving health-related goals, with autonomy support from providers, family, and friends predicting greater autonomous motivation and goal progress
• Goal progress is associated with increased positive affect and decreased negative affect, and goal attainment enhances well-being by promoting need-satisfying experiences related to feeling autonomous
• The relations from autonomy to goal progress and from goal progress to well-being are bidirectional, with enhanced well-being promoting the setting of more autonomous goals which fosters further goal attainment and well-being enhancement
• Reaching one's personal goals by Richard Koestner
• implementation intentions- thought to enhance successful goal striving because they link the desired behaviors with certain situations and allow for automatic responding without having to make decisions continually
• two best prospective predictors of resolution success are readiness and self-efficacy
• important to consider the role of autonomy in relation to two additional issues that have been associated with goal setting

  1. role of other people in our goal pursuits
  2. the relation of goal pursuit to well-being
• Social support can facilitate progress on personal goals because it serves to enhance feelings of self-efficacy, transforms the interest level of goal-related activities, and helps individuals generate effective coping strategies
• Self-determination theory research has shown that the effect of other people’s motivational support will depend on whether it is perceived as autonomy supportive versus controlling
• Autonomy support involves taking another’s perspective, acknowledging feelings, and encouraging self-initiation and selfdirection
• Control involves pressuring someone to act, think, or feel in a particular way
• he important other measure appeared to be the stronger and more consistent predictor of dietary outcomes
• There is evidence that goal attainment results in enhanced well-being because it promotes need-satisfying experiences related to feeling autonomous, There has also been support for the hypothesis that goal attainment will fail to be accompanied by enhanced well-being if people pursue extrinsic goals that are incongruent with intrinsic needs
• there is evidence that the relations from autonomy to goal progress and from goal progress to well-being are bidirectional.
• enhanced well-being promotes the setting of more autonomous goals which, in turn, fosters further goal attainment and well-being enhancement