How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective
Goal-setting theory states that challenging, specific, and concrete goals (i.e., subordinate goals) are powerful motivators and boost performance in goal pursuit more than vague or abstract goals (i.e., superordinate goals). Goal-setting theory predominantly focuses on single, short-term goals and l...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2018-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01879/full |
| _version_ | 1828518492931883008 |
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| author | Bettina Höchli Adrian Brügger Claude Messner |
| author_facet | Bettina Höchli Adrian Brügger Claude Messner |
| author_sort | Bettina Höchli |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Goal-setting theory states that challenging, specific, and concrete goals (i.e., subordinate goals) are powerful motivators and boost performance in goal pursuit more than vague or abstract goals (i.e., superordinate goals). Goal-setting theory predominantly focuses on single, short-term goals and less on broad, long-term challenges. This review article extends goal-setting theory and argues that superordinate goals also fulfill a crucial role in motivating behavior, particularly when addressing broad, long-term challenges. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the benefits of superordinate goals, which have received less attention in research, and to show theoretically that people pursue long-term goals more successfully when they focus on subordinate as well as superordinate goals than when they focus on either subordinate or superordinate goals alone. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:56:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9b776f5c4f534dbda51277084533ae06 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T18:56:02Z |
| publishDate | 2018-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-9b776f5c4f534dbda51277084533ae062022-12-22T00:54:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782018-10-01910.3389/fpsyg.2018.01879404799How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical PerspectiveBettina HöchliAdrian BrüggerClaude MessnerGoal-setting theory states that challenging, specific, and concrete goals (i.e., subordinate goals) are powerful motivators and boost performance in goal pursuit more than vague or abstract goals (i.e., superordinate goals). Goal-setting theory predominantly focuses on single, short-term goals and less on broad, long-term challenges. This review article extends goal-setting theory and argues that superordinate goals also fulfill a crucial role in motivating behavior, particularly when addressing broad, long-term challenges. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the benefits of superordinate goals, which have received less attention in research, and to show theoretically that people pursue long-term goals more successfully when they focus on subordinate as well as superordinate goals than when they focus on either subordinate or superordinate goals alone.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01879/fullsuperordinate goalgoal hierarchygoal abstractiongoal pursuitlong-term |
| spellingShingle | Bettina Höchli Adrian Brügger Claude Messner How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective Frontiers in Psychology superordinate goal goal hierarchy goal abstraction goal pursuit long-term |
| title | How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective |
| title_full | How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective |
| title_fullStr | How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective |
| title_short | How Focusing on Superordinate Goals Motivates Broad, Long-Term Goal Pursuit: A Theoretical Perspective |
| title_sort | how focusing on superordinate goals motivates broad long term goal pursuit a theoretical perspective |
| topic | superordinate goal goal hierarchy goal abstraction goal pursuit long-term |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01879/full |
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