The document presents a study that examined how attaining personal goals impacts existential and psychological well-being. It hypothesized that attaining goals would boost well-being, and that effects would be stronger for goals that were autonomously motivated or intrinsically oriented rather than controlled or extrinsic. The results supported these hypotheses, finding that goal attainment significantly predicted increases in well-being and that intrinsically motivated goals had a greater impact.

1. Existential and Psychological Health as
Products of Intrinsic Goal Attainment
Nick Stauner
Personality Assessment Lab
University of California, Riverside
1

2. 2

3. Outline
Intro: existential & psychological well-being (WB)
Hypothesis: goal attainment boosts all kinds of WB
Method: two-part self-report internet survey
Results: multiple regression (IV=attainment; DV=∆WB)
A. Exclusion criteria
B. Main effects of attainment on well-being
C. Other main effects, interactions, and moderators
Recap summary
3

4. Existential well-being
Meaning in life*
• Subjective clarity & significance of one’s own life
1. “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 4

5. Psychological well-being
Meaning in life*
• Subjective clarity & significance of one’s own life
Psychological well-being (PWB)†
• Multidimensional theory of well-being
1. Environmental mastery 4. Autonomy
2. Self-acceptance 5. Positive relations
3. Purpose 6. Personal growth
*Steger et al., 2006 †Ryff, 1989; Ryff & Keyes, 1995 5

6. Meaning vs. subjective well-being*
• Parenthood paradox†
◦ Decreases positive affect
◦ Changes life’s meaning (?)
*Baumeister, 1991 †Lyubomirsky & Boehm, 2010 6

7. 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 7

8. 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.Ӡ
*Klinger, 1998 †Emmons, 1999 8

9. 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
9

10. 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 10

11. 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 11

12. Depth of meaning*
Ordinal categorization of sources of meaning
1. Hedonistic pleasure & comfort
2. Personal potential, growth, creativity, &
self-actualization
3. Service to others and commitment to a
larger societal or political cause
4. Transcend individuality and encompass
cosmic meaning and ultimate purpose
*Reker & Wong, 1988; Reker, 2000 12

13. Hypotheses
1. Goal attainment boosts psychological well-
being and meaning in life.
13

14. 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
14

15. 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
15

16. 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
16

17. 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 17

18. 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 again
Time 1 goals embedded & rated retrospectively
*Stay tuned for many more results in the future! 18

19. 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. 19

20. 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 unknown
51% 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
20

21. Family income bracket frequencies
200 185
160
120
79
80
49 51
40
40
0
<$50K <$75K <$100K <$125K >$125K
21

22. 22

23. 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
23

24. 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 p
Time 1 SWB .64 < 2 x 10-16
Attainment .17 < .0002
• Successful replication of the goal attainment boost†
*All df = {266 – 276} †Sheldon & Elliot, 1999 24

25. 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: Attainment β = .17, p < .001
*
*Whitney, 2006 25

26. 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: Attainment β = .17, p < .001
Psychological well-being (PWB)
Predictor β p
Time 1 PWB .80 < 2 x 10-16
Attainment .10 < .004
*All df = {266 – 276} 26

27. 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: Attainment β = .17, p < .001
Psychological well-being: Attain. β = .10, p < .004
Meaning in life
Predictor β p
Time 1 Meaning .69 < 2 x 10-16
Attainment .10 < .03
*All df = {266 – 276} 27

28. 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: Attainment β = .17, p < .001
Psychological well-being: Attain. β = .10, p < .004
Meaning in life: Attainment β = .10, p < .03
Hypothesis 1:
*All df = {266 – 276} 28

29. Main effects of goal attainment*
Predictor β p
Psychological well-being .10 < .004
Environmental mastery .18 < .000008
Self-acceptance .15 < .0002
Positive relations .08 < .04
Personal growth .10 < .04
Autonomy .06 .11
Purpose .05 .22
*All df = {266 – 276} 29

30. Well-being composite
Well-being unidimensional at the subscale level
◦ Most subscale correlations > .50 in magnitude
30

31. 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 .34
Meaning in Life (ML-P) .51 .61 .64 .46 .34 .46
Environmental Mastery (EM) .76 .60 .62 .42 .52
Self-Acceptance (SA) .62 .64 .40 .51
Purpose (Purp.) .47 .62 .49
Positive Relations (PR) .40 .36
Personal growth (PG) .46
Autonomy (Auto.)
*N = 290. All ps < .02. Time 1 only. |r| > .50 = green; |r| < .30 = red 31

32. 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 .37
Meaning in Life (ML-P) .52 .55 .62 .45 .45 .42
Environmental Mastery (EM) .77 .62 .66 .51 .56
Self-Acceptance (SA) .68 .69 .49 .56
Purpose (Purp.) .54 .67 .59
Positive Relations (PR) .53 .46
Personal growth (PG) .54
Autonomy (Auto.)
*N = 270. All ps < .03. Time 2 only. |r| > .50 = green; |r| < .30 = red 32

33. Well-being composite
Well-being unidimensional at the subscale level
◦ Most subscale correlations > .50 in magnitude
◦ Parallel analysis and scree plot indicate one factor
33

34. Time 1 parallel analysis scree plot*
Eigenvalues
*N = 290 Factors 34

35. Time 2 parallel analysis scree plot*
Eigenvalues
*N = 270 Factors 35

36. Well-being composite
Well-being unidimensional at the subscale level
◦ 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
• Used in all results presented henceforth
36

37. Moderation by goal content
Self-categorized type* Attainment β p df
1. Health .15 <.001 197
2. Academic .11 <.004 272
3. Social Relationships .10 <.01 269
4. Affect Control .11 <.02 163
5. Organization .13 <.03 99
6. Moral and Religious .06 .21 136
7. Independence .05 .26 186
8. Material Wealth -.03 .57 172
*Objective judge coding in progress for validation purposes. 37

38. 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. 38

39. Effect of self-rated goal importance on well-being change
Change in well-being
Importance (β = .09, p = .04, n = 183) 39

40. Effect of self-rated goal investment on well-being change
Change in well-being
Investment (β = .09, p = .04, n = 202) 40

41. Main effect of time frame
β = .08, p < .03
• “What is your time frame for accomplishing this goal?”
5 4 3 2 1
Enduring life goal Next few Next few Short term Day-to-day
or guiding value years months goal
(e.g., “make the (more than 1 (less than 1 (less than 1 (e.g., “take out
most of life”) year) year) month) the trash”)
Interpret cautiously
• Some extreme goals may fit both extremes!
41

42. 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?”
*All df = {183 – 265} 42

43. Standardized effects of goal attainment & extrinsic motivation on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 183)
43

44. Standardized effects of goal attainment & extrinsic motivation on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 183)
44

45. Standardized effects of goal attainment & extrinsic motivation on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 183)
45

46. 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 for the fun and enjoyment
that it provides you?”
*All df = {183 – 265} 46

47. Standardized effects of goal attainment & intrinsic motivation on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 265)
47

48. Standardized effects of goal attainment & intrinsic motivation on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 265)
48

49. Standardized effects of goal attainment & intrinsic motivation on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 265)
49

50. 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 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} 50

51. Standardized effects of goal attainment & attainability on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 220)
51

52. Standardized effects of goal attainment & attainability on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 220)
52

53. Standardized effects of goal attainment & attainability on well-being change
Change in well-being
Attainment (df = 220)
53

54. 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
54

55. 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
55

56. 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 56

57. PHIN
57

58. 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
58

59. Meaning vs. PWB-Purpose
1. 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
59

60. 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 me
3. I am an active person in carrying out the plans I set for myself
4. I tend to focus on the present, because the future nearly always brings
me problems
5. I don’t have a good sense of what it is I am trying to accomplish in life
6. I sometimes feel as if I’ve done all there is to do in life
7. I used to set goals for myself, but that now seems like a waste of time
8. Some people wander aimlessly through life but I am not one of them
9. I live life one day at a time and don’t really think about the future
60