PSYO349

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY University of British Columbia,

Okanagan Campus

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GOALS
Helps us achieve desirable states and avoid undesirable states
Organize incoming knowledge and information; fill life with meaning, structure,
and direction

GOAL

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THE CHALLENGES OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
1.Not knowing what leads to happiness, well-being, and other positive
outcomes.
2.Not knowing how to do those things that the science of positive psychology
says will bring out our positive sides.
3.Not doing those things that leads to greater well-being in our daily lives.

GOAL
GOALS AND SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING
Cognitive component (life satisfaction): the extent to which you
achieve goals feeds into our overall cognitive evaluation of how
satisfied you are with our life.
Affective components:
­ Positive anticipatory emotions +
­ Positive outcome related emotions +
­ Hedonic treadmill (goal attainment may produce only temporary boosts in well-being)
­ Disappointment – (when goal progress is uncertain)

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THESE GOALS MAKE US HAPPIER
Goals more conducive to basic psychological needs (i.e., relatedness, competence,
and autonomy) are more likely to increase well-being
More specific and challenging goals lead to greater likelihood of success and
subjective satisfaction.
Intrinsic motivation: engaging in an activity because the activity is inherently
enjoyable.
­ Means-end fusion: when the activity (means) and outcome of the activity (goal) are inseparable. The
activity contains a desirable end state.

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INTRINSIC VS. EXTRINSIC GOALS
We can be motivated to do things for either extrinsic or intrinsic reasons
Extrinsic goals are motivated by external rewards
­ To be wealthy and materially successful
­ To be famous, well-known and admired
­ To look attractive in terms of body, clothing, and fashion.

Intrinsic goals are pursued because of motivation that comes from within
­ To achieve psychological growth, autonomy, and self-regard
­ To have satisfying relationships with family and friends.
­ To improve the world through activism or generosity
­ To feel healthy and free of illness

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WELL-BEING: EXTRINSIC & INTRINSIC GOALS
Well-being & Extrinsic Goals
­ Over-emphasizing financial successes is related to negative outcomes like anxiety and depression
­ Valuing extrinsic goals over intrinsic goals is associated with lower self-esteem, a lower quality of
relationship with friends and romantic partners, greater television watching, and greater drug use.

Well-being & Intrinsic Goals

­ Pursuing self-acceptance and a feeling of community is associated with greater well-being and
psychological fulfillment.

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SHOULD YOU APPROACH OR AVOID?
Approach vs. avoidance goals
­ Approach goals: “my goal is to get an A in this course”;
­ Avoidance goals: ”my goal is to avoid getting any lower than an A in this
course”.
Approach goals are associated with higher positive emotions and
SWB; avoidance goals are negatively associated with SWB and
performance.

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FOCUS ON THE PROCESS, NOT THE OUTCOME
Process focus: salience of the means/process of goal pursuit
­ Proximal, concrete, contextualized, offers guidelines for their pursuit.

Outcome focus: salience of the ends/outcome of goal pursuit

­ Provides a clear standard of comparison between actual and desired states.

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WHY YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON THE PROCESS
Process focus tend to be associated with more successful goal pursuit and achievement and
higher affective well-being.
- Behavioural control: it is easier to control immediately available and concrete activities rather than the
outcome
- E.g. “if I study every day for 2 hours for the MCAT, it will lead me closer to my goal”. Leads to greater self-efficacy.

- Guidelines: focus on the process provides guidelines for goal-relevant actions.

- E.g. “I will study every day for the MCAT”. The more concrete the goals are, the more concrete, tangible, and less intimidating the
actions are

- Increase intrinsic appeal of the activity: less extrinsic focus on the outcome leads to greater intrinsic
enjoyment of the activity, leading to increased performance.
- Effort as a heuristic: the more effort you invest in the process, the more likely you are to enjoy the outcome.
- Value: the higher value you place on the process, the more persistent you will be in goal-relevant activities.
Outcome focus may be beneficial to serve as reminders for the process, to give a final ‘boost’ of motivation
when the outcome is approaching, and when the tasks involved in goal pursuit are not challenging.

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PROCRASTINATION
Procrastination leads to lower subjective well-being and task performance.
Process focus is negatively related to procrastination
­ Process focus leads to identification of opportunities to act, initiate goal-relevant activities,
and engage in and complete tasks.
­ Representing goals more concretely vs. abstractly leads to less procrastination.
­ Which is likely to lead to more procrastination?
a) Writing a list of tasks that need to be accomplished over the weekend
b) Thinking that you ‘have so much to do this weekend’ (we’re all guilty)
­ Circumvents problem of delay of gratification

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GOALS AND THE SELF
Self-concordance: how well a goal is consistent with a person’s developing interests
and core values.
We are more likely to put effort into pursuing and achieving self-concordant goals
compared to non-self-concordant goals.

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PUTTING IT INTO ACTION
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GOALS – WHY DO WE NEED THEM?
A large study in England found that people were 26 times more likely to quit smoking
when they worked on effective goal setting with a coach over and above the following
factors: intentions, motivation, & social support.

GOAL
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REFLECTION SHEET: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Don’t fail the midterm!

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic? Self-concordant (consistent with your core

values)? Approach vs. avoidant?

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REFRAMING GOALS
AVOIDANCE APPROACH
I AM VERY WORRIED ABOUT THE STUDY FOR THE UPCOMING
UPCOMING MIDTERM EXAM IN MIDTERM EXAM WILL INCREASE
THIS COURSE! I BETTER STUDY MY CHANCES OF SUCCESS AND
SO THAT I DON’T TOTALLY FAIL! MAKE ME FEEL MORE
OPTIMISTIC ABOUT IT!

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REFLECTION SHEET: WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Don’t fail the midterm! Do great on the midterm! I love psychology!

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AN EXERCISE IN GOAL-SETTING
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SMALL GOALS
Small goals are:
­ Self-Selected
­ Measurable
­ Action-Oriented
­ Linked to one’s life
­ Time-Limited

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SMALL GOALS
Small goals are:
­ Self-Selected
­ Measurable
­ Action-Oriented
­ Linked to one’s life
­ Time-Limited

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SMALL GOALS
Small goals are:
­ Self-Selected
­ Measurable
­ Action-Oriented
­ Linked to one’s life
­ Time-Limited

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SMALL GOALS
Small goals are:
­ Self-Selected
­ Measurable
­ Action-Oriented
­ Linked to one’s life
­ Time-Limited

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SMALL GOALS
Small goals are:
­ Self-Selected
­ Measurable
­ Action-Oriented
­ Linked to one’s life
­ Time-Limited

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WEEK 2 HOMEWORK – SETTING ”SMALL” AND
“KIND” GOALS
How can you improve the likelihood that you will achieve your long-term goals?

Family/Benevolence
Help my son with his 2nd grade read-a-thon

At home, at the kitchen table

At 6pm, after dinner tonight

Find book at appropriate level at library

My son can pick the book and log

his reading hours
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