Frustrated,but not flustered: The benefits of hierarchical approach motivation to weathering daily frustrations

Variations in the organization of personal goals are thought to be important to self-regulation, yet relevant measures and evidence is largely lacking. In two studies (total N = 217), participants were prompted to self-generate personal goals at three levels of a goal hierarchy (low, mid, and high), following which they rated all of these goals along an approach-avoidance dimension. A hierarchical approach measure was created from these ratings and this novel individual difference measure was hypothesized to predict the better self-regulation of goal frustrations in daily life. Such predictions were confirmed. For example, daily frustrations precipitated anger among those low but not high, in hierarchical approach (Study 2). The findings are important theoretically as well as from a measurement perspective.