A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties
A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties
There is growing interest in how and why individuals adjust their goals in response to difficulties encountered during goal striving and the outcomes of such adjustments. We identified 1,421 effect sizes from 235 studies related various goal adjustment possibilities; their antecedents; and wellbeing/illbeing, functioning/impairment, and goal-related outcomes. We categorised and mapped variables onto a new conceptual model that encompasses both the overall propensity toward goal-striving flexibility and differences in how people adjust their individual goals. Further, we used random-effects meta-analyses to examine the strength and direction of associations between model categories and goal adjustment variables. We conclude that different aspects of goal adjustment are predicted by unique combinations of antecedent variables, and predict distinct wellbeing, functional, and goal-related outcomes.
goal adjustment, goal disengagement, goal reengagement, wellbeing, goal flexibility
Riddell, Hugh
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Sedikides, Constantine
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Sivaramakrishnan, Hamsini
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Wan, Phoebe
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Maltagliati, Silvio
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Jackson, Ben
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Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie
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Gucciardi, Daniel F.
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Ntoumanis, Nikos
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Riddell, Hugh
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Sedikides, Constantine
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Sivaramakrishnan, Hamsini
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Wan, Phoebe
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Maltagliati, Silvio
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Jackson, Ben
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Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie
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Gucciardi, Daniel F.
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Ntoumanis, Nikos
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Riddell, Hugh, Sedikides, Constantine, Sivaramakrishnan, Hamsini, Wan, Phoebe, Maltagliati, Silvio, Jackson, Ben, Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Cecilie, Gucciardi, Daniel F. and Ntoumanis, Nikos
(2025)
A meta-analytic review and conceptual model of the antecedents and outcomes of goal adjustment in response to striving difficulties.
Nature Human Behaviour.
(doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02312-4).
Abstract
There is growing interest in how and why individuals adjust their goals in response to difficulties encountered during goal striving and the outcomes of such adjustments. We identified 1,421 effect sizes from 235 studies related various goal adjustment possibilities; their antecedents; and wellbeing/illbeing, functioning/impairment, and goal-related outcomes. We categorised and mapped variables onto a new conceptual model that encompasses both the overall propensity toward goal-striving flexibility and differences in how people adjust their individual goals. Further, we used random-effects meta-analyses to examine the strength and direction of associations between model categories and goal adjustment variables. We conclude that different aspects of goal adjustment are predicted by unique combinations of antecedent variables, and predict distinct wellbeing, functional, and goal-related outcomes.
Text
Ridell et al., in press, Nature Human Behaviour
- Accepted Manuscript
Text
s41562-025-02312-4
- Version of Record
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Accepted/In Press date: 22 August 2025
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 November 2025
Keywords:
goal adjustment, goal disengagement, goal reengagement, wellbeing, goal flexibility
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 506833
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/506833
ISSN: 2397-3374
PURE UUID: 59cf1f3b-7d44-4572-b838-01603dcfc0c1
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Date deposited: 18 Nov 2025 18:13
Last modified: 19 Nov 2025 02:36
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Contributors
Author:
Hugh Riddell
Author:
Hamsini Sivaramakrishnan
Author:
Phoebe Wan
Author:
Silvio Maltagliati
Author:
Ben Jackson
Author:
Cecilie Thøgersen-Ntoumani
Author:
Daniel F. Gucciardi
Author:
Nikos Ntoumanis
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