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38 - Goal Setting Interventions

from Part III - Behavior Change Interventions: Practical Guides to Behavior Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2020

By
Tracy Epton  and
Christopher J. Armitage
Edited by
Martin S. Hagger ,
Linda D. Cameron ,
Kyra Hamilton ,
Nelli Hankonen  and
Taru Lintunen
Martin S. Hagger
Affiliation:
University of California, Merced
Linda D. Cameron
Affiliation:
University of California, Merced
Kyra Hamilton
Affiliation:
Griffith University
Nelli Hankonen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Taru Lintunen
Affiliation:
University of Jyväskylä
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Summary

This chapter describes the behavior change technique of goal setting. Goal setting is an established and ubiquitous technique that has been used successfully in varied and diverse contexts, for multiple behaviors, and in numerous populations. Goal setting encompasses many different perspectives from individual-level goal setting (e.g., making a new year’s resolution or reading one book a week) to goal setting by global organizations (e.g., the United Nations’ sustainable development goals). This chapter considers many different kinds of goal setting interventions, including those that have emerged in popular culture and those derived from specific theories. Given that goal setting is ubiquitous, numerous theories have emerged to explain how and why goals operate, with Locke and Latham’s (1990) goal setting theory, the focus of the current chapter, as the only theory that deals with goal setting as a behavior change technique in its own right. Goal setting theory is described in detail and used to illustrate how different types of goal setting interventions might operate. The final section includes a step-by-step guide of what to do, what not to do, and what can be left to personal preference when setting goals.

Keywords

goal setting theorySMART goalsbehavior goalsoutcome goalsspecific vs. aspirational goalsattentioneffortgoals specificitygoal difficultygoal typefeedback
Type
Chapter
Information
The Handbook of Behavior Change , pp. 554 - 571
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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