Avoidance goal pursuit depletes self-regulatory resources.

OBJECTIVE Research on the strength model of self-regulation is burgeoning, but little empirical work has focused on the link between distinct types of daily goal pursuit and the depletion of self-regulatory resources. The authors conducted two studies on the link between avoidance goals and resource depletion. METHOD Study 1 (283 [228 female] Caucasians, ages 18-51) investigated the concurrent and longitudinal relations between avoidance goals and resource depletion over a 1-month period. Study 2 (132 [93 female] Caucasians, ages 18-49) investigated the concurrent and longitudinal relations between avoidance goals and resource depletion over a 1-month period and explored resource depletion as a mediator of the avoidance goal to subjective well-being relation. RESULTS Studies 1 and 2 documented both a concurrent and a longitudinal negative relationship between avoidance goals and self-regulatory resources, and Study 2 additionally showed that self-regulatory resources mediate the negative link between avoidance goals and subjective well-being. Ancillary analyses demonstrated that the results observed in the two studies were independent of neuroticism. CONCLUSIONS These findings advance knowledge in both the resource depletion and avoidance goal literatures, and bolster the view that avoidance goal pursuit over time represents a self-regulatory vulnerability.

[1]  Kathleen D. Vohs,et al.  PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE Research Article SELF-REGULATORY FAILURE: A Resource-Depletion Approach , 2022 .

[2]  P. Borkenau,et al.  NEO-Fünf-Faktoren-Inventar (NEO-FFI) nach Costa und McCrae : Handanweisung , 1993 .

[3]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: does self-control resemble a muscle? , 2000, Psychological bulletin.

[4]  Elliot T. Berkman,et al.  Making Connections and Avoiding Loneliness: Approach and Avoidance Social Motives and Goals , 2008 .

[5]  Oliver Dickhäuser,et al.  Messung dispositioneller Selbstkontroll-Kapazität , 2009 .

[6]  K. Vohs,et al.  Intellectual performance and ego depletion: role of the self in logical reasoning and other information processing. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[7]  G. Sideridis.  Goal Orientation, Academic Achievement, and Depression: Evidence in Favor of a Revised Goal Theory Framework , 2005 .

[8]  A. Rothman,et al.  When planning is needed: Implementation intentions and attainment of approach versus avoidance health goals. , 2008, Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association.

[9]  H. Kehr,et al.  Implicit/Explicit Motive Discrepancies and Volitional Depletion among Managers , 2004, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[10]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: willpower is more than a metaphor. , 2007, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[11]  Self-control in relation to problem drinking and symptoms of disordered eating. , 1999, Addictive behaviors.

[12]  K. Vohs,et al.  Self-Regulation, Ego Depletion, and Motivation , 2007 .

[13]  C. Carver,et al.  On the Self-Regulation of Behavior , 1998 .

[14]  D. Watson,et al.  Health complaints, stress, and distress: exploring the central role of negative affectivity. , 1989, Psychological review.

[15]  A. Elliot.  Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals , 1999 .

[16]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Avoidance Personal Goals and Subjective Well-Being , 1997, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[17]  Oliver Dickhäuser,et al.  Momentan verfügbare Selbstkontrollkraft : Vorstellung eines Messinstruments und erste Befunde aus pädagogisch-psychologischen Kontexten , 2011 .

[18]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Avoidance achievement motivation: a personal goals analysis. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[19]  J. Harackiewicz,et al.  Goal setting, achievement orientation, and intrinsic motivation: a mediational analysis. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[20]  Mark Muraven.  Autonomous Self-Control is Less Depleting. , 2008, Journal of research in personality.

[21]  Kathleen D. Vohs,et al.  Self-regulation and the executive function of the self , 2003 .

[22]  P. Gollwitzer.  Action phases and mind-sets , 1990 .

[23]  P. Costa,et al.  Personality, coping, and coping effectiveness in an adult sample , 1986 .

[24]  N. Yperen,et al.  A NOVEL APPROACH TO ASSESSING ACHIEVEMENT GOALS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 2 X 2 FRAMEWORK: IDENTIFYING DISTINCT PROFILES OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DIFFERENT DOMINANT ACHIEVEMENT GOALS , 2006 .

[25]  Dale T. Miller,et al.  The framing of relative performance feedback: Seeing the glass as half empty or half full. , 1994 .

[26]  R. Levenson,et al.  The ability to regulate emotion is associated with greater well-being, income, and socioeconomic status. , 2010, Emotion.

[27]  A. MacLeod,et al.  Approach and Avoidance Goals and Plans: Their Relationship to Anxiety and Depression , 2004, Cognitive Therapy and Research.

[28]  S. Hobfoll.  Conservation of resources. A new attempt at conceptualizing stress. , 1989, The American psychologist.

[29]  D. Wegner.  Ironic processes of mental control. , 1994, Psychological review.

[30]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Goal striving, need satisfaction, and longitudinal well-being: the self-concordance model. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[31]  Manfred Königstein,et al.  Personality influences on ultimatum bargaining decisions , 2001 .

[32]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Ego depletion: is the active self a limited resource? , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  The adoption of approach versus avoidance goals: The role of goal-relevant resources , 2010 .

[34]  R. Baumeister,et al.  High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. , 2004, Journal of personality.

[35]  A. Elliot.  A Conceptual History of the Achievement Goal Construct. , 2005 .

[36]  A. Elliot,et al.  Client Articulated Avoidance Goals in the Therapy Context. , 2002 .

[37]  R. Hembree.  Correlates, Causes, Effects, and Treatment of Test Anxiety , 1988 .

[38]  J. Kuhl.  Chapter 5 – A Functional-Design Approach to Motivation and Self-Regulation: The Dynamics of Personality Systems Interactions , 2000 .

[39]  Robert Hanna.  What is the self? , 2011, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[40]  P. Costa,et al.  Neuroticism, somatic complaints, and disease: is the bark worse than the bite? , 1987, Journal of personality.

[41]  Noelle M. Nelson,et al.  Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: a limited-resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative. , 2008, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[42]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Ostracism and Ego Depletion: The Strains of Silence , 2001 .

[43]  M. Hogg,et al.  The Sage Handbook of Social Psychology , 2003 .

[44]  A. Ohman,et al.  Emotion drives attention: detecting the snake in the grass. , 2001, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[45]  C. Carver,et al.  Attention and Self-Regulation: A Control-Theory Approach to Human Behavior , 1981 .

[46]  E. Harmon-Jones,et al.  Exercising self-control increases approach motivation. , 2010, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[47]  Angela Y. Lee,et al.  Be Fit and Be Strong: Mastering Self‐Regulation through Regulatory Fit , 2008 .

[48]  E. Higgins,et al.  Handbook of motivation and cognition : foundations of social behavior , 1991 .

[49]  K. Parkes,et al.  Coping in stressful episodes: the role of individual differences, environmental factors, and situational characteristics. , 1986, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[50]  J. Kuhl.  A Functional-Design Approach to Motivation and Self-Regulation , 2000 .

[51]  Maya Tamir,et al.  Don't worry, be happy? Neuroticism, trait-consistent affect regulation, and performance. , 2005, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[52]  R. Baumeister,et al.  The Physiology of Willpower: Linking Blood Glucose to Self-Control , 2007, Personality and social psychology review : an official journal of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

[53]  R. McCrae,et al.  An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. , 1992, Journal of personality.

[54]  J. Brunstein,et al.  Personal goals and subjective well-being: A longitudinal study. , 1993 .

[55]  Andrew J. Elliot,et al.  Stability and change in achievement goals. , 2007 .

[56]  M. Hagger,et al.  Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: a meta-analysis. , 2010, Psychological bulletin.

[57]  Giacomo Mauro DAriano.  The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. , 2002 .

[58]  K. Vohs,et al.  Case Western Reserve University , 1990 .

[59]  Andrew J. Elliot,et al.  Achievement goals as predictors of achievement-relevant processes prior to task engagement. , 2002 .

[60]  K. Fernow.  New York , 1896, American Potato Journal.

[61]  D. Derryberry,et al.  Anxiety-related attentional biases and their regulation by attentional control. , 2002, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[62]  M. Muraven,et al.  Mechanisms of Self-Control Failure: Motivation and Limited Resources , 2003, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[63]  Aleksandr Kogan,et al.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Moving Toward More Perfect Unions : Daily and Long-Term Consequences of Approach and Avoidance Goals in Romantic Relationships , 2010 .

[64]  E. Higgins.  Making a good decision: value from fit. , 2000, The American psychologist.

[65]  Ed Diener,et al.  Assessing subjective well-being: Progress and opportunities , 1994 .

[66]  J. Suls,et al.  Differential roles of neuroticism, extraversion, and event desirability for mood in daily life: an integrative model of top-down and bottom-up influences. , 1997, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[67]  J. V. Wood,et al.  Basic personality dispositions, self-esteem, and personal goals: an approach-avoidance analysis. , 2006, Journal of personality.

[68]  A. Elliot,et al.  Approach-avoidance motivation in personality: approach and avoidance temperaments and goals. , 2002, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[69]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Avoidance (Relative to Approach) Personal Goals , 2001, Psychological science.

[70]  Kennon M. Sheldon,et al.  Avoidance personal goals and the personality-illness relationship. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[71]  Shelly L. Gable,et al.  Approach and Avoidance Motivation in the Social Domain , 2006, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[72]  Peter Fischer,et al.  Self-regulation and selective exposure: the impact of depleted self-regulation resources on confirmatory information processing. , 2008, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[73]  C. Carver,et al.  On the Self-Regulation of Behavior , 1998 .

[74]  Ian Parker,et al.  Critical Psychology: What It Is and What It Is Not , 2007 .

[75]  A. Elliot,et al.  A longitudinal analysis of self-regulation and well-being: avoidance personal goals, avoidance coping, stress generation, and subjective well-being. , 2011, Journal of personality.

[76]  Shelly L. Gable,et al.  Approach and avoidance social motives and goals. , 2006, Journal of personality.

[77]  Self-control in relation to problem drinking and symptoms of disordered eating. , 1999, Addictive behaviors.

[78]  Nico W. Van Yperen,et al.  A Novel Approach to Assessing Achievement Goals in the Context of the 2× 2 Framework: Identifying Distinct Profiles of Individuals With Different Dominant Achievement Goals , 2006, Personality & social psychology bulletin.

[79]  Hermann Brandstätter,et al.  Sechzehn Persönlichkeits-Adjektivskalen (16 PA) als Forschungsinstrument anstelle des 16 PF , 1988 .

[80]  R. Cattell.  Personality and motivation structure and measurement , 1958 .

[81]  A. Maercker,et al.  The delay of gratification test for adults: Validating a behavioral measure of self-motivation in a sample of older people , 2011 .

[82]  Michael Inzlicht,et al.  Running on empty: neural signals for self-control failure. , 2007, Psychological science.

[83]  R. Baumeister,et al.  Self-control as limited resource: regulatory depletion patterns. , 1998, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[84]  J. Dickson.  Perceived consequences underlying approach goals and avoidance goals in relation to anxiety , 2006 .

[85]  A. Elliot,et al.  Test anxiety and the hierarchical model of approach and avoidance achievement motivation. , 1999, Journal of personality and social psychology.