What Is the Approach Presented in This Volume?

In the past decade or two there has emerged an approach to the study of motivation that focuses on specific cognitive and affective mediators of behavior rather than more general traits or motives. This “social-cognitive” approach attempts to identify very specific psychological processes that, in interaction with situational cues, shape people's actions. This approach grants motivation its own role in shaping cognition, emotion, and behavior, rather than reducing goal-directed behavior to cold-blooded information processing or to mere enactment of a personality type. As we will see, viewing motivation in these terms allows for an understanding of how motivational processes guide and organize patterns of cognition, emotion, and behavior. Thus, this social-cognitive approach leads us to investigate the dynamic interplay of psychological processes as people pursue their goals.

Historical Roots and Emergence of Process-Oriented Approaches to Motivation

Psychologists, as well as laypeople, have always been intrigued by dynamic theories of motivation. A telling example is the sustained fascination with Freud's psychodynamic theory, although many would argue there is little empirical support for it. The process-oriented approach to motivation and self-regulation presented in this volume captures much of the richness of a dynamic approach and avoids many of the pitfalls of previous approaches.