2012 presentation - existential and psychological health as products of intrinsic goal attainment

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Existential and Psychological Health as Products of Intrinsic Goal Attainment

Nick StaunerPersonality Assessment Lab

University of California, Riverside

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Outline

Intro: existential & psychological well-being (WB)Hypothesis: goal attainment boosts all kinds of

WBMethod: two-part self-report internet surveyResults: multiple regression (IV=attainment;

DV=∆WB)A. Exclusion criteria

B. Main effects of attainment on well-beingC. Other main effects, interactions, and moderators

Recap summary

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Existential well-being

Meaning in life*

• Subjective clarity & significance of one’s own life1. “I understand my life’s meaning.”2. “My life has a clear sense of purpose.”3. “I have a good sense of what makes my

life meaningful.”4. “I have discovered a satisfying life

purpose.”5. “My life has no clear purpose.”

*Steger, Frazier, Oishi, & Kaler, 2006

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Psychological well-being

Meaning in life*

• Subjective clarity & significance of one’s own life

Psychological well-being (PWB)†

• Multidimensional theory of well-being

*Steger et al., 2006 †Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995

1. Environmental mastery2. Self-acceptance3. Purpose

4. Autonomy5. Positive relations6. Personal growth

• Parenthood paradox • Guerrilla warfare!

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Meaning vs. subjective well-being*

• Parenthood paradox†

◦Decreases positive affect◦Changes life’s meaning (?)

*Baumeister, 1991 †Lyubomirsky & Boehm, 2010

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Meaning vs. subjective well-being*

• Parenthood paradox†

◦Decreases positive affect◦Changes life’s meaning (?)

• Guerrilla warfare!◦Not the most pleasant

lifestyle one could choose…◦Not for the weak of conviction!

*Baumeister, 1991 †Lyubomirsky & Boehm, 2010

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Goals as sources of meaning

“The degree and kind of meaning a person finds in life derives from the emotionally compelling qualities of the person’s goal pursuits.”*

“Goals appear to be prime constituents of the meaning-making process…Goals are an important source of personal meaning…Goals are used to construct meaning.”†

*Klinger, 1998 †Emmons, 1999

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Effect of goal attainment on SWB

Attainment increases subjective well-being*

• Predicts concurrent and future changes• Short and long-term

Progress increases vitality, self-actualization†

• May increase psychological well-being! (p < .10)*Brunstein, 1993; Sheldon & Kasser, 1998; Sheldon &

Elliot, 1999†Sheldon, Kasser, Smith, & Share, 2002

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Autonomy vs. controlledness*

Self-rated reasons for pursuing a goal+2 Intrinsic

◦ Fun, enjoyment, and interest in the experience

+1 Identified◦ Belief in value and importance of the goal

-1 Introjected◦ “Ought” feeling to avoid shame, guilt, or anxiety

-2 Extrinsic◦ Reward, praise, or approval from others

Main effect on SWB & attainment interaction

*Sheldon & Kasser, 1995, 1998, 2001; Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, & Kasser, 2004

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Intrinsic vs. extrinsic content*

Goal’s self-rated help toward “possible futures”

Intrinsic+ Having many close and caring relationships+ Being fulfilled and having a very meaningful life+ Helping to make the world a better place

Extrinsic- Being known and/or admired by many people- Looking good and appearing attractive to others- Getting a lucrative job and lots of nice possessions

Main effect on SWB & attainment interaction

*Sheldon & Kasser, 1995, 1998, 2001; Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, & Kasser, 2004

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Depth of meaning*

Ordinal categorization of sources of meaning

1. Hedonistic pleasure & comfort2. Personal potential, growth, creativity,

& self-actualization3. Service to others and commitment to a

larger societal or political cause4. Transcend individuality and encompass

cosmic meaning and ultimate purpose

*Reker & Wong, 1988; Reker, 2000

deep

shall

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Hypotheses

1. Goal attainment boosts psychological well-being and meaning in life.

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Hypotheses

1. Goal attainment boosts psychological well-being and meaning in life.

2. Effects are stronger from goals that are: A. Autonomously motivated

◦ More enjoyable, important, & meaningful◦ Less obligatory or extrinsically rewarded

B. Intrinsically oriented and deeply meaningful

◦ More prosocial & self-transcendent◦ Less materialistic or self-indulgent

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Subjective Well-Being & Meaning

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule*

• Amount of 20 emotions in past few weeks◦ E.g., “Strong,” “Afraid,” rated 1 – 5

Satisfaction with Life Scale†

• 5 cognitive evaluations of global life satisfaction◦ E.g., “I am satisfied with my life,” rated 1 – 7

Meaning in Life Questionnaire‡ – Presence• 5 cognitive evaluations of global life

meaning◦ E.g., “My life has no clear purpose,” rated 1 – 7*Watson, Tellegen, & Clark, 1988

†Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; ‡Steger et al., 2006

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Subjective Well-Being & Meaning

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule*

• Amount of 20 emotions in past few weeks◦ E.g., “Strong,” “Afraid,” rated 1 – 5

Satisfaction with Life Scale†

• 5 cognitive evaluations of global life satisfaction◦ E.g., “I am satisfied with my life,” rated 1 – 7

Meaning in Life Questionnaire‡ – Presence• 5 cognitive evaluations of global life

meaning◦ E.g., “My life has no clear purpose,” rated 1 – 7*Watson, Tellegen, & Clark, 1988

†Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; ‡Steger et al., 2006

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Psychological Well-Being*

6 subscales of 9 items each, rated 1 – 6 (forced)

1. Environmental mastery(-) “I often feel overwhelmed by my responsibilities.”

2. Self-acceptance(+) “In general, I feel confident and positive about myself.”

3. Purpose(-) “My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me.”

4. Autonomy(-) “I tend to be influenced by people with strong opinions.”

5. Positive relations(+) “I know I can trust my friends, and they know they can trust me.”

6. Personal growth(-) “I am not interested in activities that will expand my horizons.”

*Springer & Hauser, 2006; Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995

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Procedure

Time 1: 75-min. survey at quarter’s beginning• Well-being measured• Goals listed and rated• Lots of other personality measures…*

Time 2: 45-min. follow-up at quarter’s end

Well-being measured againTime 1 goals embedded & rated retrospectively

*Stay tuned for many more results in the future!

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Goal assessment

List 10 goals and why they’re being pursued• E.g., “Save money for a conference.”

◦ Why? “Because the hotel is expensive!”

“Categorize your goals” task (8 categories)

Goal ratings* (mostly scaled 1 – 4)Time 1: intrinsic, identified, introjected, extrinsic

pressure, extrinsic reward, etc….Time 2: progress + success = “attainment”

*List is not comprehensive; excludes those without hypotheses.

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Participants

407 undergraduates at UC Riverside• Young adults (M = 19.6 | SD = 2.3 | range = {17 – 44} )• 69% female (282 females, 125 males)• Ethnically diverse & representative of UCR population

42% East Asian 27% Hispanic or Latino 14% European 6% African 5% Western or South Asian 5%

multiracial

• Religion: mostly Christian, unaffiliated, or unknown51% Christian 22% atheist/agnostic/no affiliation 15% missing 8% Buddhist 2% Muslim 1% Hindu 2% other

• 43% freshmen, 24% sophomores, 24% juniors, 8% seniors, 6 others

• 89% full-timers (Mean credits = 13 | SD = 4)• 58% single (238 singles | 159 spoken for | 12 it’s-complicateds)• 29% working: mean hrs. = 15, SD = 9

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Family income bracket frequencies

<$50K <$75K <$100K <$125K >$125K0

40

80

120

160

200 185

79

49 4051

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Exclusion criteria

Attrition• 11.5% (47 didn’t return for time 2)

Completion time• 12.5% (45 excluded)

Inter-item invariance: • 20% (63 partially excluded)

Applied before performing any other analyses

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Main effects of goal attainment*

Multiple regression to predict well-being change• Predictors = time 1 well-being & time 2 attainment• Dependent = time 2 well-being

Subjective well-being (SWB)SWB = Life Satisfaction + Positive Affect - Negative Affect

Predictor β pTime 1 SWB .64 < 2 x 10-16

Attainment .17 < .0002

• Successful replication of the goal attainment boost†

*All df = {266 – 276} †Sheldon & Elliot, 1999

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Subjective well-being: Attainment β = .17, p < .001

Psychological well-being: β = .10, p < .005• Environmental mastery = .18 | Self-acceptance = .15• Positive relations = .08 |Personal growth = .10• Insignificant: Autonomy = .06 | Purpose = .05

Meaning in life: β = .10, p < .03

*

*Whitney, 2006

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Subjective well-being: Attainment β = .17, p < .001Psychological well-being (PWB)

Predictor β pTime 1 PWB .80 < 2 x 10-16


• Successful replication†

*All df = {266 – 276}

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Subjective well-being: Attainment β = .17, p < .001Psychological well-being: Attain. β = .10, p < .004Meaning in life

Predictor β pTime 1 Meaning .69 < 2 x 10-16


• Successful replication†

*All df = {266 – 276}

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Subjective well-being: Attainment β = .17, p < .001

Psychological well-being: Attain. β = .10, p < .004Meaning in life: Attainment β = .10, p < .03

Predictor β p

Hypothesis 1:Attainment .10 < .03• Successful replication†


*All df = {266 – 276}

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Predictor β p

Psychological well-being .10< .004Environmental mastery .18 < .000008Self-acceptance .15< .0002Positive relations .08 < .04Personal growth .10 < .04Autonomy .06 .11Purpose .05 .22

*All df = {266 – 276}

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Well-being composite

Well-being unidimensional at the subscale level

◦ Most subscale correlations > .50 in magnitude◦ Parallel analysis and scree plot indicate one

factor

• Composite well-being change from attainment: ◦ β = .12, p < .002

• Used in all results presented henceforth

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Correlations of well-being indices*

Time 1 index NA SWLS

ML-P

EM SA Purp.

PR PG Auto.

Positive Affect -.15 .52 .55 .50 .60 .61 .47 .44 .37

Negative Affect (NA) -.29 -.24

-.54

-.44 -.29

-.40

-.21 -.31

Life Satisfaction (SWLS) .57 .59 .71 .46 .56 .23 .34Meaning in Life (ML-P) .51 .61 .64 .46 .34 .46Environmental Mastery (EM) .76 .60 .62 .42 .52Self-Acceptance (SA) .62 .64 .40 .51Purpose (Purp.) .47 .62 .49Positive Relations (PR) .40 .36Personal growth (PG) .46Autonomy (Auto.)

*N = 290. All ps < .02. Time 1 only. |r| > .50 = green; |r| < .30 = red

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Correlations of well-being indices*

Time 2 index NA SWLS

ML-P

EM SA Purp.

PR PG Auto.

Positive Affect -.14 .42 .47 .53 .55 .51 .45 .38 .36

Negative Affect (NA) -.29 -.21

-.46

-.39 -.31

-.40

-.22 -.27

Life Satisfaction (SWLS) .47 .61 .68 .44 .55 .31 .37Meaning in Life (ML-P) .52 .55 .62 .45 .45 .42Environmental Mastery (EM) .77 .62 .66 .51 .56Self-Acceptance (SA) .68 .69 .49 .56Purpose (Purp.) .54 .67 .59Positive Relations (PR) .53 .46Personal growth (PG) .54Autonomy (Auto.)

*N = 270. All ps < .03. Time 2 only. |r| > .50 = green; |r| < .30 = red

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◦ Most subscale correlations > .50 in magnitude◦ Parallel analysis and scree plot indicate one factor


• Used in all results presented henceforth◦ Parallel analysis and scree plot indicate one factor



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Time 1 parallel analysis scree plot*

Factors

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*N = 290

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Time 2 parallel analysis scree plot*

Factors

Eig

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*N = 270

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◦ Most subscale correlations > .50 in magnitude◦ Parallel analysis and scree plot indicate one factor

• Standardized and summed 3 types of well-being:1. Subjective well-being (SWLS + PA - NA)2. Psychological well-being (sum of 6 subscales)3. Presence of meaning in life

• T2 composite well-being from T1 & attainment: ◦ Attainment β = .12, p < .002


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Moderation by goal content

*Objective judge coding in progress for validation purposes.

Self-categorized type*

Attainment β

p df

1. Health

.15 <.001

197

2. Academic

.11 <.004

272

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Social Relationships

.10 <.01 269

4. Affect Control

.11 <.02 163

5. Organization

.13 <.03 99

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Moral and Religious

.06 .21 136

7. Independence

.05 .26 186

8. Material Wealth

-.03 .57 172

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Main effects of goal characteristics

Predicting T2 well-being from T1 well-being and…

Extrinsic reward: β = -.09, p < .02◦ “Are you pursuing this goal because you hope to gain some

material possession or reward (e.g., a car, money, a high-paying job, a better place to live, etc.), or to avoid losing a material possession?”

Probability of success: β = .11, p < .02◦ “What are your chances of succeeding in this goal?”

Importance*: β = .09, p < .05◦ “Do you pursue this goal because you really believe it’s an

important goal to have?”

Investment*: β = .09, p < .05◦ “How willing are you to invest time, money, or effort to achieve

this goal?”

*Distributions of importance & investment are negatively skewed.

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Effect of self-rated goal importance on well-being change

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Importance (β = .09, p = .04, n = 183)

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Effect of self-rated goal investment on well-being change

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Investment (β = .09, p = .04, n = 202)

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Main effect of time frame

β = .08, p < .03• “What is your time frame for accomplishing

this goal?”

Interpret cautiously• Some extreme goals may fit both

extremes!

5 4 3 2 1Enduring life

goal or guiding value

Next few years

Next few months

Short term Day-to-day goal

(e.g., “make the most of life”)

(more than 1 year)

(less than 1 year)

(less than 1 month)

(e.g., “take out the trash”)

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Interactions with goal characteristics*

Extrinsic pressure x attainment: β = -.09, p < .05• “Do you pursue this goal because someone else

wants you to, or because the situation demands it?”

Intrinsic x attainment: β = -.06, p < .06• “Do you pursue this goal because someone else


Attainability x attainment: β = -.07, p < .05• “What are your chances of succeeding in this goal?”

*All df = {183 – 265}

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Standardized effects of goal attainment & extrinsic motivation on well-being change

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Attainment (df = 183)

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Intrinsic x attainment: β = -.06, p < .06• “Do you pursue this goal for the fun and

enjoyment that it provides you?”

Attainability x attainment: β = -.07, p < .05• “What are your chances of succeeding in this

goal?”

*All df = {183 – 265}

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Standardized effects of goal attainment & intrinsic motivation on well-being change

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Intrinsic x attainment: β = -.06, p < .06• “Do you pursue this goal for the fun and

enjoyment that it provides you?”

Attainability x attainment: β = -.07, p < .05• “What are your chances of succeeding in this

goal?”

*All df = {183 – 265}

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Standardized effects of goal attainment & attainability on well-being change

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Conclusions

Goal attainment boosts meaning & PWB• Hypothesis 1 confirmed!

Goal attainment effect on well-being is moderated by goal content and motivation• Hypothesis 2 partially supported

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Theoretical implications

The goal attainment process builds and links positive, existential, and motive psychology

Mixed evidence for/against moderator theories• Autonomy/controlledness of motivation*

• Intrinsic/extrinsic goal orientation* • Depth of meaning†*Sheldon & Kasser, 1995, 1998, 2001; Sheldon, Ryan, Deci, &

Kasser, 2004†Reker & Wong, 1988; Reker, 2000

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Limitations & recommendations

Limitations• Short time span• Difficulty distinguishing existential from affective well-

being• Subjectivity of goal ratings & categorizations• N too small to split by goal content or religious affiliations

Recommendations• Experimental goal interventions* to reinforce causal

claims• Behavioral logs & health outcomes to assess effect

objectively

*E.g., Sheldon, Kasser, Smith, & Share, 2002

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PHIN

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Planned analyses

Objective criteria of goal categories, depth of meaning, value concordance, coherence & conflict

Attainment interactions with goal content & personality traits

Exploration of quadratic effects

Multilevel modeling of differences among goals• Meaning, attainment, & self-determination at the goal

level• Person-level differences in ratings as dependent variable

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Meaning vs. PWB-Purpose

1. I understand my life’s meaning2.My life has a clear sense of

purpose3. I have a good sense of what makes

my life meaningful4. I have discovered a satisfying life

purpose5. My life has no clear purpose

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Meaning vs. PWB-Purpose

1. I enjoy making plans for the future and working to make them a reality

2. My daily activities often seem trivial and unimportant to me3. I am an active person in carrying out the plans I set for myself4. I tend to focus on the present, because the future nearly always

brings me problems5. I don’t have a good sense of what it is I am trying to accomplish

in life6. I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life7. I used to set goals for myself, but that now seems like a waste of

time8. Some people wander aimlessly through life but I am not one of

them9. I live life one day at a time and don’t really think about the future

2012 presentation - existential and psychological health as products of intrinsic goal attainment

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