610 vI. SELF‑ AND S OCIAL P ROCESSES
anxiety, impulsiveness, and vulnerability 
(panics easily)—pose challenges for effective 
self- regulation. The relevance of these and 
other features of personality for multiple 
processes involved in self-  regulation points 
to personality as foundational for self- 
regulation. Indeed, some processes involved 
in self-  regulation, when considered over 
time or across situations, can be viewed as  
personality traits (e.g., deliberation; McCrae 
& Löckenhoff, 2010). And processes evident 
in the expression of some personality traits 
can be viewed as  self- regulation (e.g., nar -
cissism; Morf & Rhodewalt, 2001). In mul -
tiple ways, then, personality is a component 
of the foundation on which self-  regulatory 
processes draw.
Processes
Regardless of the goal or goal type in ques -
tion, the psychological processes involved in 
self- regulation of goal pursuit are the same. 
Although goal-  supportive behavior may be 
spontaneous or automatic (e.g., Fitzsimons 
& Bargh, 2004), self-  regulated goal pur -
suit as characterized in the primary models 
of the process is deliberate and conscious 
(though it may require overriding impulses, 
habits, and norms that are automatic and 
involuntary). Moreover, most conceptual 
models of the process posit a small number 
of interdependent processes that operate 
sequentially and cyclically (e.g., Carver & 
Scheier, 1981; Kanfer, 1970; Zimmerman & 
Campillo, 2003).
Given the cyclical nature of self-  regulatory 
processing, an account of the overall process 
could commence with any of the contribut -
ing subprocesses. At some point, however, 
most instances of goal pursuit begin with 
cognitive processes focused on expectations, 
anticipation, and planning. Collectively, 
we refer to these processes as forethought,  
which is mental activity focused on the 
means by which the goal will be pursued 
and the affordances and obstacles likely to 
be present during goal pursuit. The result of 
forethought is a plan, which may be vague 
and abstract or highly specific and concrete. 
Critically, the evaluation of the likely ef -
fectiveness of the available means and con -
fidence in the plan given the anticipated 
circumstances contributes to beliefs about whether the goal can be achieved (i.e., self- 
efficacy regarding goal-  relevant behaviors).
Forethought informs performance,  which 
is cognitive or behavioral activity aimed at 
reducing (or, on occasion, enlarging) the 
gap between the current and desired states. 
Performance involves enacting goal-  relevant 
behaviors while avoiding behaviors, includ -
ing cognitions and emotions, irrelevant to or 
in conflict with the goal. A critical aspect of 
performance is self-  monitoring,  the meta -
cognitive activity of assessing the effects of 
the enacted behavior with reference to the 
motivating goal. Effective goal pursuit re -
sults in a discernible move from the person’s 
prior state to a state consistent with the goal 
or standard in play.
Most episodes of goal-  directed perfor -
mance are followed by a period of self-  
reflection,  during which people evaluate the 
effects of their behavior on the gap between 
the prior and desired states. An adaptive re -
sponse to the outcome of self-  reflection is 
self- reinforcement,  by which people posi -
tively reinforce those behaviors that result 
in progress toward the goal and negatively 
reinforce those behaviors that yield little or 
no convergence between the prior state and 
the state implied by the operative goal or 
standard.
These subprocesses are linked in a cycli -
cal process by which people iteratively move 
from forethought to performance to self- 
reflection, realizing progress toward the 
goal with each successive cycle.
Goal‑Related  Activities
The foundational elements and psychologi -
cal processes we have presented serve the 
primary goal-  related activities: goal setting, 
goal pursuit, and disengagement from goal 
pursuit. Goal setting establishes the mental 
representation of an end state toward which 
self- regulation is focused. The term goal 
setting  implies a thoughtful, volitional pro -
cess; however, goals are sometimes, perhaps 
often, adopted through conformity or some 
other unintentional process, or prescribed 
by others. Whether adopted autonomously 
or passively, goals define the current–  future 
state discrepancy to be reduced through 
self- regulation (Locke & Latham, 2006). 
Although goals may be set with reference 