Cargando…

Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?

Three studies examined how people assess their progress on personal goals (e.g., whether they compare their progress to the past and/or to a desired target state), along with factors that might influence the nature of progress monitoring (e.g., whether the goal involves attaining a positive outcome...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Chang, Betty P. I., Webb, Thomas L., Benn, Yael, Stride, Chris B.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5364185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28392775
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00434
_version_ 1782517273700859904
author Chang, Betty P. I.
Webb, Thomas L.
Benn, Yael
Stride, Chris B.
author_facet Chang, Betty P. I.
Webb, Thomas L.
Benn, Yael
Stride, Chris B.
author_sort Chang, Betty P. I.
collection PubMed
description Three studies examined how people assess their progress on personal goals (e.g., whether they compare their progress to the past and/or to a desired target state), along with factors that might influence the nature of progress monitoring (e.g., whether the goal involves attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome). Study 1 involved semi-structured interviews with 40 participants, in which we examined how participants monitored their progress and whether this was related to: (a) their level of self-efficacy, (b) whether the goal was prevention focused, and (c) whether goal progress was represented in quantifiable terms. Studies 2 (N = 492) and 3 (N = 481) were conducted online and additionally examined whether how participants monitored their progress differed as a function of the domain of the goal (i.e., whether it was related to physical development/health, finances, work/study, or social relationships). The findings suggest that participants: (i) were less likely to monitor their progress toward goals that were related to avoiding negative outcomes, (ii) were less likely to monitor their progress toward goals related to finances, work, or study with reference to the past, than progress toward other goals (e.g., those relating to physical development and health), (iii) found it easier to monitor their progress toward goals that they felt confident of attaining, but harder to monitor their progress toward goals related to work or study. Finally, the more participants thought about their goal in quantifiable terms, the more likely they were to monitor their progress, and the easier they found monitoring their progress to be. Taken together, these studies begin to describe the nature of progress monitoring and the factors that influence this important self-regulatory process.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-5364185
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2017
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-53641852017-04-07 Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress? Chang, Betty P. I. Webb, Thomas L. Benn, Yael Stride, Chris B. Front Psychol Psychology Three studies examined how people assess their progress on personal goals (e.g., whether they compare their progress to the past and/or to a desired target state), along with factors that might influence the nature of progress monitoring (e.g., whether the goal involves attaining a positive outcome or avoiding a negative outcome). Study 1 involved semi-structured interviews with 40 participants, in which we examined how participants monitored their progress and whether this was related to: (a) their level of self-efficacy, (b) whether the goal was prevention focused, and (c) whether goal progress was represented in quantifiable terms. Studies 2 (N = 492) and 3 (N = 481) were conducted online and additionally examined whether how participants monitored their progress differed as a function of the domain of the goal (i.e., whether it was related to physical development/health, finances, work/study, or social relationships). The findings suggest that participants: (i) were less likely to monitor their progress toward goals that were related to avoiding negative outcomes, (ii) were less likely to monitor their progress toward goals related to finances, work, or study with reference to the past, than progress toward other goals (e.g., those relating to physical development and health), (iii) found it easier to monitor their progress toward goals that they felt confident of attaining, but harder to monitor their progress toward goals related to work or study. Finally, the more participants thought about their goal in quantifiable terms, the more likely they were to monitor their progress, and the easier they found monitoring their progress to be. Taken together, these studies begin to describe the nature of progress monitoring and the factors that influence this important self-regulatory process. Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-03-24 /pmc/articles/PMC5364185/ /pubmed/28392775 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00434 Text en Copyright © 2017 Chang, Webb, Benn and Stride. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Chang, Betty P. I.
Webb, Thomas L.
Benn, Yael
Stride, Chris B.
Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?
title Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?
title_full Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?
title_fullStr Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?
title_full_unstemmed Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?
title_short Which Factors Are Associated with Monitoring Goal Progress?
title_sort which factors are associated with monitoring goal progress?
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5364185/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28392775
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00434
work_keys_str_mv AT changbettypi whichfactorsareassociatedwithmonitoringgoalprogress
AT webbthomasl whichfactorsareassociatedwithmonitoringgoalprogress
AT bennyael whichfactorsareassociatedwithmonitoringgoalprogress
AT stridechrisb whichfactorsareassociatedwithmonitoringgoalprogress