People’s reasons for goal pursuit strongly relate to well-being. An important concept that captures differences in the reasons for goal pursuit is the goal-striving reasons framework. Until today, it remains unclear whether the goal-striving reasons framework relates differently to the well-being of particular groups of people. Using the positive-activity model as a guiding framework, the paper at hand analyses a number of person-related characteristics which are relevant in a goal-setting context and are assumed to change the relationship between goal-striving reasons and well-being. Employing a large cumulative data set the person-related characteristics comprise of demographic variables (age, gender, managerial status) and selected well-being related variables (assertiveness, burnout, engagement, goal progress). Using correlation analyses in conjunction with Fisher’s z-test the results show that contrary to older employees (aged 24 or older) the goal-striving reasons of younger people are not related to their well-being. Women’s self-esteem reasons are more strongly related to well-being than they are for men. People’s goal-striving reasons are more strongly associated with well-being for people with high levels of assertiveness, low levels of burnout, or high levels of engagement. The findings have implications for the delivery of the Happiness through Goal Setting Training, a Positive Psychology Intervention based on the goal-striving reasons framework, as it identifies various alterations of the training to cater for the needs of these subgroups.
Ehrlich, Christian Milston, Sashenka
Oxford Brookes Business School
Year of publication: 2023Date of RADAR deposit: 2023-10-05