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Fuel of the self-starter: how mood relates to proactive goal regulation
Uta K Bindl1, Sharon K Parker, Peter Totterdell
1UWA Business School, University of Western Australia, Australia. uta.bindl@uwa.edu.au
Abstract:
The authors consider how multiple dimensions of affect relate to individual proactivity. They conceptualized proactivity within a goal-regulatory framework that encompasses 4 elements: envisioning, planning, enacting, and reflecting. In a study of call center agents (N = 225), evidence supported the distinctiveness of the 4 elements of proactive goal regulation. Findings further indicated that high-activated positive mood was positively associated with all elements of proactive goal regulation, and low-activated negative mood was positively associated with envisioning proactivity. These findings were further supported in a longitudinal investigation of career-related proactivity amongst medical students (N = 250). The role of affective experience in proactivity is more nuanced than previously assumed.
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