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Goals are central to our identities, imbue our lives with meaning and value, and often bring out the best in us by providing a focus around which to direct our efforts. However, goals can also become sources of distress and pathology when they are unattainable or overly demanding.

Individuals who continually feel conflicted about their goals or fail to make goal progress have greater symptoms of depression, dysregulated hormone functioning, and poorer physical health. My research highlights the importance of understanding how people optimally manage their goals in response to changing opportunities and constraints – core to this is both choosing to engage, and sometimes disengage, for the right reasons.

When Goals Go Wrong: Action Crises in Goal Pursuit

What happens when we encounter repeated setbacks and roadbloacks with our goal pursuit?

Choosing to Lose it: Autonomous Motivation in Goal Disengagement

How do our reasons for letting go of an unattainable goal inform whether we can successfully relinquish the goal?

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When Goal Pursuit gets Hairy: Measuring Changes in Chronic Cortisol Elevation as a Function of Goal Conflicts

How do action crises in goal pursuit affect us on a biological level?

Personality and Goal Striving

How who we are affects how we do in our goal striving.

Personality and Covid-19 Pandemic

How did personality shape how people adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic?

Goals and Social Media

Does sharing your goals on social media make it more likely you'll achieve them?

Can a Leopard Change his Spots?

Can we set goals to change our personalities?