Social possible selves, self-regulation, and social goal progress in older adulthood

Abstract

Lifespan development involves setting and pursuing self-guided goals. This study examines how in the social domain, possible selves, a future-oriented self-concept, and self-regulation, including self-regulatory beliefs and intraindividual variability in self-regulatory behavior, relate to differences in overall daily social goal progress. An online older-adult sample worked towards a self-defined meaningful social goal over 100 days. Multilevel analysis showed that participants with social possible selves made higher overall daily goal progress, especially those with both hoped-for and feared possible selves, than those with possible selves in nonsocial domains. Self-regulatory beliefs were positively whereas variability was negatively associated with overall daily goal progress. The findings suggest that possible selves, in combination with two distinct self-regulatory constructs, significantly guide social goal progress.