The Structure of Goal Contents Across 15 Cultures

Frederick M.E. Grouzet*, Tim Kasser, Aaron Ahuvia, José Miguel Fernández Dols, Youngmee Kim, Sing Lau, Richard M. Ryan, Shaun Saunders, Peter Schmuck, Kennon M. Sheldon

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

550 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The authors investigated the structure of goal contents in a group of 1,854 undergraduates from 15 cultures around the world. Results suggested that the 11 types of goals the authors assessed were consistently organized in a circumplex fashion across the 15 cultures. The circumplex was well described by positing 2 primary dimensions underlying the goals: intrinsic (e.g., self-acceptance, affiliation) versus extrinsic (e.g., financial success, image) and self-transcendent (e.g., spirituality) versus physical (e.g., hedonism). The circumplex model of goal contents was also quite similar in both wealthier and poorer nations, although there were some slight cross-cultural variations. The relevance of these results for several theories of motivation and personality are discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)800-816
Number of pages17
JournalJournal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume89
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2005

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

User-Defined Keywords

  • Circumplex structure
  • Cross-cultural research
  • Intrinsic-extrinsic goals
  • Motivation
  • Self-determination theory

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