Conscientiousness, trait self-control, and neuroticism predict individual differences in the variability of goal dimensions

Kiendl, Korbinian; Wenzel, Mario; Kleinke, Kristian; Hennecke, Marie

doi:10.1177/08902070241295321

Eur J Pers

2024

DOI: 10.1177/08902070241295321

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Conscientiousness, trait self-control, and neuroticism predict individual differences in the variability of goal dimensions

Korbinian Kiendl

¹

,

Mario Wenzel

²

,

Kristian Kleinke

³

et al.

Abstract: When pursuing personal goals, individuals may experience fluctuations in goal-related dimensions like commitment and enjoyment. We present an approach to describe, analyze, and explain such within-person variability. In Part I, we determined to which extent within-person variability over time contributes to the total variability in goal dimensions, including between-person and between-goal variability. We observed strongest variability between goals, followed by variability over time, and between persons. In P… Show more

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Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 141 publications

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“…We were unable to compute reliability estimates that separately capture within-person consistency across goals and time because of the limited number of goals per person. However, recent analyses using the same data set showed that variability in goal dimensions over time was associated with individual differences in personality (Kiendl et al, 2025). Further variance partitioning showed that goal dimensions vary most strongly between goals within a person, with less variability over time and between individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We analyzed data from four measurement occasions of a longitudinal study that tracked up to two New Year’s resolutions per participant from January to April 2022. A part of the data for this study has been previously analyzed for another publication (Kiendl et al, 2025). However, this publication focused on different research questions and reports different analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Development and validation of the Goal Dimensions Questionnaire.

Kiendl¹,

Hoyle²,

Kleinke³

et al. 2025

Motivation Science

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Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

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“…We were unable to compute reliability estimates that separately capture within-person consistency across goals and time because of the limited number of goals per person. However, recent analyses using the same data set showed that variability in goal dimensions over time was associated with individual differences in personality (Kiendl et al, 2025). Further variance partitioning showed that goal dimensions vary most strongly between goals within a person, with less variability over time and between individuals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We analyzed data from four measurement occasions of a longitudinal study that tracked up to two New Year’s resolutions per participant from January to April 2022. A part of the data for this study has been previously analyzed for another publication (Kiendl et al, 2025). However, this publication focused on different research questions and reports different analyses.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development and validation of the Goal Dimensions Questionnaire.

Kiendl¹,

Hoyle²,

Kleinke³

et al. 2025

Motivation Science

Self Cite

0

Get access via publisher Add to dashboard Cite

Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

show abstract

“…Research on New Year's resolutions suggests that despite a lack of progress or effort, people are reluctant to fully disengage and change their goals (Moshontz & Hoyle, 2022). Research on personal goals also shows that perceptions of goal characteristics (e.g., motivation, difficulty) fluctuate across time points (Kiendl et al, 2024). The present study investigates two ways in which goals can change, and what predicts those changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…For a 2-item scale with n = 200 and medium λ = .70 factor loadings, we might expect a maximum omega of .657. Practices on whether to report within-person reliability vary (e.g., Kiendl et al, 2024), and it would be good to work towards some consistency in reporting and benchmarking.…”

Section: Limitations and Future Directionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other research that has repeatedly measured goal perceptions on dimensions such as attainability and commitment shows that while they can be highly correlated, they are not entirely consistent from one time point to the next (Brunstein, 1993;Pomaki et al, 2009). Indeed, a recent study assessing changes in goal characteristics over time (including commitment, motivation, and expectancy) found that 26-70% of variance in perceptions was across assessments (i.e., over time; Kiendl et al, 2024). In the present study, we focus specifically on such changes in perceptions (of goal difficulty, commitment and self-efficacy), and what predicts these changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring goal change in everyday life

Thorne

¹

,

Leduc‐Cummings

²

,

Gennara

³

et al. 2025

Personality Science

0

Get access via publisher Add to dashboard Cite

Exaggerated anticipatory anxiety is common in social anxiety disorder (SAD). Neuroimaging studies have revealed altered neural activity in response to social stimuli in SAD, but fewer studies have examined neural activity during anticipation of feared social stimuli in SAD. The current study examined the time course and magnitude of activity in threat processing brain regions during speech anticipation in socially anxious individuals and healthy controls (HC). Method Participants (SAD n = 58; HC n = 16) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during which they completed a 90s control anticipation task and 90s speech anticipation task.

show abstract

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