Bringing together leading authorities, this tightly edited volume reviews the breadth of current knowledge about goals and their key role in human behavior. Presented are cutting-edge theories and findings that shed light on the ways people select and prioritize goals; how they are pursued; factors that lead to success or failure in achieving particular aims; and consequences for individual functioning and well-being. Thorough attention is given to both conscious and nonconscious processes. The biological, cognitive, affective, and social underpinnings of goals are explored, as is their relationship to other motivational constructs.
Introduction: Four Themes in the Study of Goals, Gordon B. Moskowitz and Heidi Grant I. What (and Where) Are Goals? 1. What Is So Special (and Nonspecial) about Goals?: A View from the Cognitive Perspective, Arie W. Kruglanski and Catalina Kopetz 2. Goals in the Context of the Hierarchical Model of Approach-Avoidance Motivation, Andrew J. Elliot and Daniela Niesta 3. Goal-Content Theories: Why Differences in What We Are Striving for Matter, Heidi Grant and Laura Gelety 4. The Neuroscience of Goal Pursuit: Bridging Gaps between Theory and Data, Elliot T. Berkman and Matthew D. Lieberman 5. The Selfish Goal, John A. Bargh and Julie Y. Huang II. How Are Goals Selected? 6. Fantasies and Motivationally Intelligent Goal Setting, Gabriele Oettingen and Elizabeth J. Stephens 7. How Does Our Unconscious Know What We Want?: The Role of Affect in Goal Representations, Ruud Custers 8. Goal Priming, Gordon B. Moskowitz and Yuichu Gesundheit 9. Moments of Motivation: Margins of Opportunity in Managing the Efficacy, Need, and Transitions of Striving, James Y. Shah, Deborah Hall, and N. Pontus Leander III. How Are Goals Pursued? 10. Five Markers of Motivated Behavior, Leonard L. Martin and Abraham Tesser 11. Normal and Pathological Consequences of Encountering Difficulties in Monitoring Progress toward Goals, Nira Liberman and Reuven Dar 12. The Compensatory Nature of Goal Pursuit: From Explicit Action to Implicit Cognition, Gordon B. Moskowitz 13. When Persistence Is Futile: A Functional Analysis of Action Orientation and Goal Disengagement, Nils B. Jostmann and Sander L. Koole 14. Goal Implementation: The Benefits and Costs of If-Then Planning, Elizabeth J. Parks-Stamm and Peter M. Gollwitzer 15. Regulatory Focus: Classic Findings and New Directions, Jens Foerster and Lioba Werth IV. Consequences of Goal Pursuit 16. Self-Regulatory Resource Depletion: A Model for Understanding the Limited Nature of Goal Pursuit, Kathleen D. Vohs, Andrew M. Kaikati, Peter Kerkhof, and Brandon J. Schmeichel 17. Goals and (Implicit) Attitudes: A Social-Cognitive Perspective, Melissa J. Ferguson and Shanette C. Porter 18. Mystery Moods: Their Origins and Consequences, N. Pontus Leander, Sarah G. Moore, and Tanya L. Chartrand 19. Regulatory Fit in the Goal-Pursuit Process, E. Tory Higgins
