An integrative model of the conative process, which has important ramifications for psychological need satisfaction and hence for individuals’ well-being, is presented. The self-concordance of goals (i.e., their consistency with the person’s developing interests and core values) plays a dual role in the model. First, those pursuing self-concordant goals put more sustained effort into achieving those goals and thus are more likely to attain them. Second, those who attain self-concordant goals reap greater well-being benefits from their attainment. Attainment-to-well-being effects are mediated by need satisfaction, i.e., daily activity-based experiences of autonomy, competence, and relatedness that accumulate during the period of striving. The model is shown to provide a satisfactory fit to 3 longitudinal data sets and to be independent of the effects of self-efficacy, implementation intentions, avoidance framing, and life skills.

It is common for individuals to set goals but fail to follow through with them. It is equally common for individuals to attain their goals but to be no happier than before. Both of these outcomes, we suggest, involve failures in the conative process (Emmons, 1989; Little, 1993): the motivational sequence that begins at goal inception, continues through the period in which goals are pursued and either attained or abandoned, and has important ramifications for individuals’ happiness and further motivation.

In this article we present an integrated model of the conative process. The model organizes a number of related...