Strategies of setting and implementing goals: Mental contrasting and implementation intentions
In J. E. Maddux and J. P. Tangney (eds.) Social psychological foundations of clinical psychology, New York, 2010, pp. 114–135
Abstract
Research on the psychology of goals suggests that successful goal pursuit hinges on solving two sequential tasks: goal setting and goal implementation. The distinction between the setting and the implementing of goals was originall emphasized by Kurt Lewin (1926; Lewin, Dembo, Festinger, & Sears, 1944). This distinction turns out to be very useful for understanding the many new findings produced by the recent upsurge of research on goals (Bargh, Gollwitzer, & Oettingen, 2010; Oettingen & Gollwitzer, 2001), and thus we use it to organize the present chaper. We first discuss research on the self-regulation of setting goals, and then turn to findings on the self-regulation of implementing set goals. Finally, we propose a self-regulation-enchancing intervention that capitalizes on acquiring and using these gal setting and goal implementation strategies.
