APPROACH VERSUS AVOIDANCE GOALS - DIFFERENCES IN SELF-EVALUATION AND WELL-BEING

Proceeding from a model of feature-positive goal monitoring two studie s tested hypothesized associations between approach goat and positive self-evaluations and between avoidance goals and negative self-evaluat ions. The existence of feature-positive searches in goal monitoring wa s expected to bias self-evaluations toward perceiving success for appr oach goals and failure for avoidance goals. Study I established the ex istence of a relationship between goal framing and global self-evaluat ions, or psychological well-being; subjects with more avoidance goals evaluated themselves more negatively on measures of self-esteem, optim ism, and depression. Study 2 confirmed the causal role of goal framing in this relationship, for self-perceptions of success and satisfactio n differed as a function of manipulated approach versus avoidance goal s.