Self-Regulation: The Pursuit of Goals

Abstract

In the previous chapter, we argued that personality and psychological adjustment can be construed as individual differences in the goals toward which people choose to work. This chapter moves from the social cognitive psychology of what people want to the social cognitive psychology of how they try to get what they want. It is concerned with theory and research on the complex topic of self-regulation: how we regulate our own behavior, cognition, and affect in pursuit of our goals. As discussed in the last chapter, setting goals and working toward them are essential ingredients of a satisfying life. But having goals is not enough; personal satisfaction also depends on working on goals and having a certain amount of success in attaining goals. Chapter 7 discussed self-regulation as it pertains to overriding and unlearning the automatic social judgments found in stereotyping and prejudice. This chapter discusses self-regulation of the full-range of human cognition and behavior.