Social Routes to Self-Regulation
Research in self-regulation has tended to focus on how the self independently achieves goals, studying the internal cognitive and motivational processes that promote goal achievement and self control. In the research I will discuss, I focus on how self-regulation is also shaped by interpersonal and social processes. I will present an overview of the research I've conducted on this topic over the last five years. I will discuss both the influence of relationship partners on goal pursuits, and the influence of goal pursuits on relationships. Topics will include significant others as goal primes and as external agents of self control; vicarious goal pursuits; others' goal instrumentality as a predictor of relationship quality; others' goal instrumentality as a social category; and the phenomenon of goal coordination in romantic relationships and inter-racial interactions. In all studies, I hope to demonstrate the utility of taking a self-regulatory perspective in studying interpersonal relationships, and of taking an interpersonal perspective in studying self-regulation.
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