Geers Andrew L, Wellman Justin A, Lassiter G Daniel
Department of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606-3390, USA.
J Pers Soc Psychol. 2009 Apr;96(4):913-32. doi: 10.1037/a0014830.
Research indicates that a positive relationship generally exists between dispositional optimism and goal engagement and attainment. The authors argue, however, that dispositional optimism may not always be associated with more active goal pursuit. Rather, they hypothesized that this relationship is moderated by how highly a goal is prioritized. For high-priority goals, they predicted that optimistic individuals would indeed increase goal engagement and would be more likely to attain their goal relative to individuals low in optimism. For low-priority goals, they anticipated that optimistic individuals would not display greater goal engagement or attainment. In 5 studies they assessed these predictions across a variety of domains, including friendship formation, exercise persistence, and scholastic achievement. Results supported their contention that goal priority acts as a moderator of the relationship between dispositional optimism and both goal engagement and goal attainment. Evidence of 1 mediator of this moderation effect-behavioral intentions-and of a limiting factor-the temporal ordering of goals-is also presented.
研究表明，特质乐观与目标投入和实现之间通常存在积极关系。然而，作者认为，特质乐观可能并不总是与更积极的目标追求相关联。相反，他们假设这种关系会受到目标优先级高低的调节。对于高优先级目标，他们预测乐观的个体相对于低乐观程度的个体确实会增加目标投入，并且更有可能实现目标。对于低优先级目标，他们预计乐观的个体不会表现出更大的目标投入或实现。在5项研究中，他们在包括友谊形成、锻炼坚持性和学业成绩等多个领域评估了这些预测。结果支持了他们的观点，即目标优先级是特质乐观与目标投入和目标实现之间关系的调节因素。还呈现了这种调节效应的一个中介因素——行为意图——以及一个限制因素——目标的时间顺序——的证据。
