Motivation and Self-Regulation across the Life Span

by Edited by Jutta Heckhausen , Carol S. Dweck

• ISBN13: 9780521101486
• ISBN10: 0521101484
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-19
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In the past two decades, an approach to the study of motivation has emerged that focuses on specific cognitive and affective mediators of behavior, in contrast to more general traits or motives. This "social-cognitive" approach grants goal-oriented motivation its own role in shaping cognition, emotion and behavior, rather than reducing goal-directed behavior to mere information processing or to an enactment of a personality type. This book adds a developmental perspective to this process-oriented approach. Critical elements of motivational systems can be specified and their interrelations understood by charting the origins and the developmental course of motivational processes. Moreover, a process-oriented approach helps to identify critical transitions and effective developmental interventions. The chapters in this book cover various age groups throughout the life span and stem from four major traditions in motivational psychology: achievement motivation, action theory, the psychology of causal attribution and perceived control, and the psychology of personal causation and intrinisic motivation.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Regulation of the Self, Action, and Development

Decomposing self-regulation and self-control: the volitional components inventory

Developmental regulation in adulthood: selection and compensation via primary and secondary control

Development of regulatory focus: promotion and prevention as ways of living

Commentary: human psychological needs and the issues of volition, control, and outcome focus

Social Determinants of Motivation

Social motivation and perceived responsibility in others: attributions and behavior of African-American boys labeled as aggressive

A multidimensional perspective of social control: implications for the development of sex differences in self-valuation and depression

The functional regulation of adolescent dating relationships and sexual behavior: an interaction of goals, strategies, and situations

Commentary: strategies for studying social influences on motivation

Functional and Dysfunctional Control-Related Behavior in Childhood

Ruminative coping with depression

The development of early self-conceptions: their relevance for motivational purposes

Sociocultural influences on the development of children's action-control beliefs

Commentary: self-regulation, motivation and developmental psychopathology

Developmental Goals in Adulthood

A life-span approach to social motivation

Maintaining self-integrity and efficacy in later life: the adaptive functions of assimilative persistence and accommodative flexibility

The willful pursuit of identity

Commentary: motivation through the life course

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