UC Santa Barbara

Research on approach and avoidance goal adoption has largely focused on dispositional factors, despite theoretical models accounting for situational influences. Recent work has found that the goal-relevant resources that individuals possess influence approach and avoidance goal adoption, such those with greater resources adopt more approach goals. However, goal-relevant resources have only been examined in the achievement domain. We aim to expand this recent work into the social domain through two studies. Study 1 experimentally manipulated the resources of a hypothetical target as a first step in examining whether or not the social resources of social competence and social support would influence approach and avoidance social and achievement goals. In support of our hypotheses, higher social resources led to ratings of more approach social and achievement goals. Study 2 manipulated participants’ own sense of social competence and then examined social outcome expectancy as a mediator between social competence and social goal adoption. Participants in the high social competence condition had higher social outcome expectancy, which predicted more approach social goals. However, participants did not differ by condition on achievement goals or achievement outcome expectancy. These results lend further support for goal-relevant resources as a situational influence on approach and avoidance goal adoption.