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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 22, No. 10, 1057-1067 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/01461672962210009

Approach Versus Avoidance Goals: Differences in Seff-Evaluation and Well-Being

Erik J. Coats

University of Massachusetts at Amherst ercoats{at}vassar.edu

Ronnie Janoff-Bulman

University of Massachusetts at Amherst janbul{at}psych.umass.edu

Nancy Alpert

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Proceeding from a model of feature-positive goal monitoring, two studies tested hypothesized associations between approach goals and positive self-evaluations and between avoidance goals and negative self-evaluations. The existence of feature-positive searches in goal monitoring was expected to bias self-evaluations toward perceiving success for approach goals and failure for avoidance goals. Study 1 established the existence of a relationship between goal framing and global self-evaluations, or psychological well being, subjects with more avoidance goals evaluated themselves more negatively on measures of self-steem, optimism, and depression. Study 2 confirmed the causal role of goal framing in this relationship, for self perceptions of success and satisfaction differed as a function of manipulated approach versus avoidance goals.


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