Situational and Dispositional Goal Adjustment in the Context of Metastatic Cancer

Bibliographic Data

ID19280447
AuthorsElizabeth Thompson (0000-0003-0274-0689, University of California, Los Angeles), Elizabeth H Thompson (0000-0001-5750-948X, University of California, Los Angeles), Annette L Stanton (0000-0001-9021-2549, University of California, Los Angeles, corresponding author), Julienne E Bower (0000-0003-0813-4444, University of California, Los Angeles)
Year2013
Volume81
Issue5
Pages441-451
Publication date2013-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Personality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-3506 • E-ISSN: 1467-6494
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jopy.12025
PMID23253194
OpenAlexW2122882191
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited25

Striving toward goals is associated with higher levels of subjective well‐being; however, many potential roadblocks to goal achievement exist. The current study extends the understanding of goal regulation processes in its examination of the relationships between dispositional and situational goal adjustment to a profound stressor and their associations with psychological adjustment. Women ( N = 103; M age = 57.2 years; 82% C aucasian) with metastatic breast cancer completed semistructured interviews and self‐report measures at study entry and 3 months later. Measures of dispositional and situational goal reengagement were significantly correlated, but dispositional and situational goal disengagement were unrelated. Greater dispositional and situational goal disengagement abilities were associated with fewer cancer‐related intrusive thoughts at T ime 1. Dispositional and situational reengagement were positively associated with life satisfaction and sense of purpose and negatively associated with depressive symptoms at T ime 1. However, greater initial situational goal disengagement predicted an increase in depressive symptoms over time. Both how an individual typically responds to goal blockage, as well as how an individual is currently responding to a specific blocked goal, appear related to psychological adjustment

Context (archaeology) · Developmental psychology · Disengagement theory · Goal Orientation · Situational ethics · Stressor · Clinical Psychology · Health, psychology, and well-being · Medicine · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research · Psychology · Social Psychology

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