I Hope, I Desire, but Can I Achieve My Goal: A Self-Regulation Model of Weight Control

Goal-directed decision processes are thought to begin with goal setting, followed by goal striving, which then potentially leads to goal attainment (e.g., Bagozzi 2010). Previous research has primarily examined goal-striving processes and the implications of goal setting (cf. Bagozzi et al. 2003; Taylor et al. 2006), except for several exceptions (e.g., Taylor et al. 2006; Xie et al. 2013). Therefore, research is needed to determine what actually comprises people’s goals, how goals are created, and the effect these goals have on decision making and outcomes (Taylor et al. 2006).

This research seeks to reveal people’s goals, to explicate their inter-related structures (e.g., superordinate goals and their linkages) and to examine how these goals and goal structures affect people’s self-regulation and decision making within the context of weight control. In particular, it emphasizes the roles played by desire and hope, as well as the very goals themselves. For example, this research advances our understanding of the role of goal types and hope by articulating the different ways that individuals’ different goal types (e.g., social-adjustive vs. value-expressive goals) and hope levels (e.g., high vs. low hope) can dynamically affect their decision-making processes in both the goal-setting and the goal-striving stages. This advanced understanding is consistent with the assertions that (1) goals (such as “personal health”) stem from broadly based values, possess a hierarchical nature, and are affected and moderated by individuals, health issues, and interaction characteristics (Taylor et al. 2006); (2) goals’ hierarchical structures can be mapped into various cognitive schemata (Strauss 1992); and (3) a hierarchical cognitive schema that takes into account goals’ structure, goals’ functional inter-dependencies, and situational behavioral variability provides an explanatory basis for behavioral intentions, attitudes, and social norms (Xie et al. 2013). Effective coping strategies, health care policy strategies and intervention programs can subsequently be developed, promoted, and implemented to potentially change individuals’ “undesirable” goals into “desirable” ones and to increase individuals’ level of hope. In addition to considering other possible explanations derived from a genetics perspective, this research – consistent with the view that daily goals and decisions spring from and are highly influenced by the socialization that occurs in the cultural environment (Segar et al. 2007) – also sheds light on the health differences among major U.S. ethnic groups (e.g., Caucasian, African American, and Latino) as well as between genders.