Achievement Goal and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Perception of Successful Agency and the Moderating Role of Emotion Reappraisal

Wang, Wangshuai and Li, Jie and Sun, Gong and Zhang, Xin-an and Cheng, Zhiming (2016): Achievement Goal and Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Role of Perception of Successful Agency and the Moderating Role of Emotion Reappraisal.

Abstract

Achievement goal is a cognitive representation that guides behavior to a competence-related future end state. Existing theories and empirical findings imply that achievement goal is potentially related to life satisfaction. However, the relationship between achievement goal and life satisfaction remains relatively unexplored in the psychology literature. In this study we examined how, and when, achievement goal affects life satisfaction, using original survey data from China. The results suggested that achievement goal was positively related to life satisfaction, that the perception of successful agency fully mediated the relationship between achievement goal and life satisfaction, and that emotion reappraisal moderated the relationship between achievement goal and life satisfaction. Our study helps reveal the positive influence of achievement goal on life satisfaction, and provides an understanding of the mechanism and boundary condition of this influence.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: achievement goal, perception of successful agency, emotion reappraisal, life satisfaction
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I3 - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty > I31 - General Welfare, Well-Being; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J28 - Safety ; Job Satisfaction ; Related Public Policy

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