Goal Systems Theory: Psychological Processes and Applications

Description

Twenty years ago, a group of investigators joined forces to propose a new conceptual paradigm based on a cognitive approach to motivation. This approach, referred to as goal systems theory, offered a broad perspective on behavioral phenomena and inspired research programs in diverse domains of psychological science. This volume collects the rich body of insights and findings that the goal systemic approach has yielded over the last two decades. Using the major cognitive architectures of goal systems, leading researchers from some of the world's most renowned universities push the envelopes of their respective fields to discover new psychological phenomena and relationships through applications. These include fundamental topics such as attitude-behavior relations, intrinsic motivation, consumer behavior, violent extremism, addiction, and interpersonal relations among others. In all those domains, applications of goal systemic analyses provide novel insights and guide real world interventions. Chapters in this volume present the authors' work in these varied domains of application thus offering concrete illustrations of the theory's reach and usefulness. Cover Goal Systems Theory Copyright Contents Contributors Introduction: The Principles of Goal Systems Theory 1. New Developments in Goal Systems Theory 2. A Goal Systems Approach to Risk Behavior 3. The Means–​Ends Fusion Model of Intrinsic Motivation 4. The Structure of Immersive and Engaging Activities: Insights from a Computational Model of Flow 5. The Temporal Dynamics of Goal Systems: How Goal Progress Changes the Drivers of Motivation 6. Paying for Goals and Means 7. Variety among Means: Advancing Understanding of Equifinality in Goal Systems 8. A Goal Systematic Approach to Persuasion: Influencing Attitudes and Behavior 9. Needs Find a Way: Means-​Shifts, Domain Jumps, and Leaps of Faith 10. Problem Solving from a Goal-​Systems Perspective 11. Extremism and the Extreme Personality 12. Political Behavior from the Perspective of the Goal Systems Theory 13. The Interplay between Goal Systems and Identities Index