Behavioral and Experiential Self-Regulations in Psychological Well-Being under Proximal and Distal Goal Conditions

Abstract

This study examined the relationship of goal-related components of cybernetic, behavioral, and experiential self-regulations to psychological well-being under two types of conditions, the pursuit of intrinsic goals in general and specific intrinsic goals for the academic term. In an online survey, undergraduates ( N = 186) completed global measures of psychological well-being, behavioral and experiential self-regulations, and rated themselves on goal-related self-regulatory components. Correlations indicated that most of the cybernetic, behavioral and experiential self-regulatory variables were associated with each other and with well-being. In terms of the goal-related self-regulatory components, when pursuing intrinsic goals more generally, the experiential self-regulatory component of enjoyment of the activity predicted well-being. However, when pursuing intrinsic term goals, the cybernetic self-regulatory component of perceived goal progress and the behavioral self-regulatory component of self-reinforcement for goal progress predicted well-being. The findings extend theoretical conceptualizations of psychological well-being by integrating compatibilities between cybernetic, behavioral, experiential self-regulatory processes and motivational conditions.