From Motives to Optimal Functioning: The Beneficial Role of Self-Concordance in Crafting a Good Life

<p style="text-align: justify;">Hedonic, eudaimonic, and extrinsic motives in daily activities affect well-being outcomes. Hedonic motives refer to pleasure and comfort pursuit. Eudaimonic motives include pursuing excellence, authenticity, growth, meaning, and value-congruent activity. Extrinsic motives encompass the pursuit of fame, power, status, material wealth, and popularity. Previous research has laid emphasis on the connections of well-being motives and outcomes. However, these studies do not largely focus on personal goal selection and pursuit. This study adopts the Self-Concordance Model (SCM), and investigates the mediating role of goal self-concordance between well-being motives and outcomes including positive affect, negative affect, meaning in life, and life satisfaction. A total of 823 participants (Age mean = 23,41, SD = 6,94) took part in the study. The results showed that eudaimonic and extrinsic motives had associations with most of the well-being outcomes while hedonic motivation interestingly demonstrated no associations with them. Furthermore, goal self-concordance substantially mediated the positive effects of eudaimonic motivation and the negative effects of extrinsic motivation on well-being outcomes. Implications of well-being motives and outcomes in the context of personal goals are discussed.</p>