Action phases and mind-sets

The focus of this chapter is on the course of action, which is understood to be a temporal, horizontal path starting with a person's desires and ending with the evaluation of the achieved action outcome. The phenomena of choosing an action goal, initiating the appropriate actions, and executing these actions are assumed to be situated in between. This comprehensive perspective conceives of the course of action as a number of consecutive, distinct segments or phases. It raises questions concerning how people choose action goals, plan and enact their execution, and eaaluate thek efforts. The concept of "mind-set" is employed to find answers to these questions in terms of the cognitive processes or orientations that allow for easy completion of the different action phases.