Motivation and Self-Regulation across the Life Span

In the last two decades, an approach to the study of motivation has emerged that focuses on specific cognitive and affective mediators of behaviour, in contrast to more general traits or motives. This 'social-cognitive' approach grants goal-oriented motivation its own role in shaping cognition, emotion and behaviour, rather than reducing goal-directed behaviour to cold-blooded information processing or to an enactment of a personality type. This book adds to this process-oriented approach a developmental perspective. Critical elements of motivational systems can be specified and their inter-relations 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 big traditions in motivational psychology: achievement motivation, action theory, the psychology of causal attribution and perceived control, and the psychology of personal causation and intrinsic motivation.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Jutta Heckhausen and Carol S. Dweck; Part I. Regulation of the Self, Action, and Development: 1. Decomposing self-regulation and self-control: the volitional components inventory Julius Kuhl and Arno Fuhrmann; 2. Developmental regulation in adulthood: selection and compensation via primary and secondary control Jutta Heckhausen and Richard Schulz; 3. Development of regulatory focus: promotion and prevention as ways of living E. Tory Higgins and Israela Loeb; 4. Commentary: human psychological needs and the issues of volition, control, and outcome focus Richard M. Ryan; Part II. Social Determinants of Motivation: 5. Social motivation and perceived responsibility in others: attributions and behavior of African-American boys labeled as aggressive Sandra Graham; 6. A multidimensional perspective of social control: implications for the development of sex differences in self-valuation and depression Eva Pomerantz and Diane Ruble; 7. The functional regulation of adolescent dating relationships and sexual behavior: an interaction of goals, strategies, and situations Nancy Cantor and Catherine A. Sanderson; 8. Commentary: strategies for studying social influences on motivation Ellen A. Skinner; Part III. Functional and Dysfunctional Control-Related Behavior in Childhood: 9. Ruminative coping with depression Susan Nolen-Hoeksema; 10. The development of early self-conceptions: their relevance for motivational purposes Carol S. Dweck; 11. Sociocultural influences on the development of children's action-control beliefs Todd D. Little; 12. Commentary: self-regulation, motivation and developmental psychopathology John R. Weisz; Part IV. Developmental Goals in Adulthood: 13. A life-span approach to social motivation Laura L. Carstensen; 14. Maintaining self-integrity and efficacy in later life: the adaptive functions of assimilative persistence and accommodative flexibility Jochen Brandtstadter; 15. The willful pursuit of identity Peter M. Gollwitzer and Oliver Kirchhof; 16. Commentary: motivation through the life course Richard Schulz.