Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:11:12.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On the selection and balancing of multiple selfish goals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 April 2014

Catalina Kopetz
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202. [email protected]://clasweb.clas.wayne.edu/catalina-kopetzhttp://www.addiction.umd.edu/CAPERWebSite/CatalinaKopetz.html
Wilhelm Hofmann
Affiliation:
University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany. [email protected]://soccco.uni-koeln.de/wilhelm-hofmann.html
Reinout W. H. J. Wiers
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, 1018 XA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [email protected]://www.uva.nl/over-de-uva/organisatie/medewerkers/content/w/i/r.w.h.j.wiers/r.w.h.j.wiers.html

Abstract

The selfish goal metaphor is interesting and intriguing. It accounts for the idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies in peoples' goal pursuits without invoking free will, self-regulatory, or self-control failures. However, people pursue multiple goals, sometimes simultaneously. We argue that the model proposed in the target article may gain significant theoretical and practical value if the principles underlying goal selection and/or balancing on a moment-to-moment basis are clearly specified and integrated with the notion of the selfish goal.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Atkinson, J. W. (1964) An introduction to motivation. Van Nostrand.Google Scholar
Bélanger, J. J., Lafrenière, M. K., Vallerand, R. J. & Kruglanski, A. W. (2013) When passion makes the heart grow colder: The role of passion in alternative goal suppression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 104:126–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Emmons, R. A. & King, L. A. (1988) Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54(6):1040–48.Google Scholar
Fishbach, A. Zhang, Y. & Koo, M. (2009) The dynamics of self-regulation. European Review of Social Psychology 20:15344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, B. (2001) How the leopard changed its spots. Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kober, H., Kross, E. F., Mischel, W., Hart, C. L. & Ochsner, K. N. (2010) Regulation of craving by cognitive strategies in cigarette smokers. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 106:5255.Google Scholar
Köpetz, C., Faber, T., Fishbach, A. & Kruglanski, A. W. (2011) The multifinality constraints effect: How goal multiplicity narrows the means set to a focal end. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100:810–26.Google Scholar
Kruglanski, A. W., Kopetz, C., Belanger, J., Chun, W. Y., Orehek, E. & Fishbach, A. (2013) Features of multifinality: Effects of goal plurality on means preferences. Personality and Social Psychology Review 17:2239.Google Scholar
Kruglanski, A. W., Shah, J. Y., Fishbach, A., Friedman, R., Chun, W. Y. & Sleeth-Keppler, D. (2002) A theory of goal systems. In: Advances in experimental social psychology, vol. 34, ed. Zanna, M. P., pp. 331–78. Academic Press. Available at: http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/ayelet.fishbach/research/advances.pdf.Google Scholar
Shah, J. Y., Friedman, R. & Kruglanski, A. W. (2002) Forgetting all else: On the antecedents and consequences of goal shielding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 83:1261–80. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12500810.Google Scholar