Motivational systems and the pursuit of goals: Lessons learned from older adults

Michaela Riediger Research Scientist Center for Lifespan Psychology Max Planck Institute for Human Development Berlin, Germany Every once in a while, we all encounter situations in which we think about what we want to attain, maintain, or avoid in the future. No matter which goals we set ourselves in such situations—to spend more time with friends, learn Spanish, find a better-paid job, lose weight, exercise more regularly, or attend preventive medical checkups—the step to their realization is often a large one. We work on some of our goals, but fail to do so with respect to others. Health-behavior changes bear a considerable risk of falling into the latter category. The identification of motivational factors that contribute to the initiation and longer-term maintenance of goal-directed behaviors thus has important implications for understanding successful implementations of health-behavior change. In this paper, I will take a developmental perspective and review research showing that we can learn from older adults when it comes to the persistent pursuit of goals. This research has yielded insights into two characteristics of the motivational system that have implications for the longer-term maintenance of goaldirected action. I will first elaborate the role that the nature of interrelations among a person’s multiple goals, and particularly the extent of mutual facilitation among goals, plays in this respect. Following that, I will introduce motivational selectivity as a multifaceted phenomenon and discuss research suggesting that there are aspects of motivational selectivity that have implications for involvement in goal-directed action. I will conclude by arguing that the insights from this research can be applied fruitfully to healthpsychological contexts.