Cognitive Processes in Response to Goal Failure: A Study of Ruminative Thought and its Affective Consequences.
Abstract
Failure to make progress toward personal goals can lead to negative affective states,
such as depression and anxiety. Past research suggests that rumination in response
to goal failure may prolong and intensify those acute emotional responses, but that
process remains unclear. We examined ruminative thought processes following experimentally
manipulated exposure to past failures to attain advancement (promotion) goals and
safety (prevention) goals. We predicted that priming of past promotion and prevention
goal failures would lead individuals to think repetitively about these failures and
that negative affect would be evoked by their recognition of their failures. Further,
we predicted that when people experience a sufficient magnitude of negative affect,
ruminative thought would intensify and prolong the negative affect associated with
that type of goal failure. Results yielded strong support for our predictions regarding
promotion goal failure and modest support for those regarding prevention goal failure.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13851Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1521/jscp.2013.32.5.482Publication Info
Jones, NP; Papadakis, AA; Orr, CA; & Strauman, TJ (2013). Cognitive Processes in Response to Goal Failure: A Study of Ruminative Thought and
its Affective Consequences. J Soc Clin Psychol, 32(5). 10.1521/jscp.2013.32.5.482. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/13851.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Timothy J. Strauman
Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Professor Strauman's research focuses on the psychological and neurobiological processes
that enable self-regulation, conceptualized in terms of a cognitive/motivational perspective,
as well as the relation between self-regulation and affect. Particular areas of emphasis
include: (1) conceptualizing self-regulation in terms of brain/behavior motivational
systems; (2) the role of self-regulatory cognitive processes in vulnerability to depression
and other disorders; (3) the impact of tre

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