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This basic question has intrigued humans throughout history: “Why do people do the things they do?”We have all always wondered why people act and decide the way they do. Psychologists too.
So they turned their focus on goals. The idea was, once they figured out what people wanted in their lives, they could tell what drives their behavior.
In 1987, researchers Ford & Nichols detailed a taxonomy of human goals. They organized all goals into categories based on what they were aiming for.
This was fascinating. Their goal classification helped us better see the motivations behind human behavior — to avoid boredom, find success, build a relationship, or something else.
Let’s dive in.
Two main categories of human goals:
- Within-person: goals focused on internal matters
- Person-environment: goals focused on external matters
| Category of Human Goals | Description |
|---|---|
| I. Within-person Goals | Desired internal consequences |
| II. Person-environment Goals | Desired external consequences |
I. Within Person Goals
The within-person goals are about how we interact with our inner world.
These can be affective, cognitive, and subjective organization types.
A. Affective goals
The affective goals relate to our emotional and physical wellbeing.
These include doing things that make us happy, avoid stress, find satisfaction, or arouse bodily sensations.
- Entertainment — experiencing excitement, avoiding boredom
- Tranquility — feeling relaxed, avoiding stress
- Happiness — experiencing joy, avoiding distress
- Bodily sensation — experiencing pleasurable bodily sensations, avoiding pain or discomfort
- Physical well-being — feeling healthy, avoiding illness
B. Cognitive goals
The cognitive goals relate to our intellectual pursuits.
These goals motivate people to explore their world, try to make greater sense of things, or develop self-worth and self-acceptance.
- Exploration — satisfying curiosity, learning, avoiding ignorance
- Understanding — gaining knowledge and making sense, avoiding misconceptions, errors, and confusion
- Intellectual creativity — engaging in original thinking and novelty, avoiding familiarity
- Positive self-evaluation — maintaining self-confidence or self-worth, avoiding feelings of failure and guilt
C. Subjective organization goals
The subjective organization goals are those that motivate people to pursue a sense of cohesiveness in their lives, and transcendence toward more spiritual or idealized states.
- Unity — experiencing connectedness or harmony with people, nature, or greater power, avoiding feelings of psychological disunity
- Transcendence — experiencing peak states of functioning, avoiding feelings of ordinariness
Table 2: Within Person Goals
| Within-Person Goal Type | Description |
|---|---|
| A. Affective goals | |
| 1. Entertainment | Experiencing excitement, avoiding boredom |
| 2. Tranquility | Feeling relaxed, avoiding stress |
| 3. Happiness | Experiencing joy, avoiding distress |
| 4. Bodily sensation | Experiencing pleasurable bodily sensations, avoiding pain or discomfort |
| 5. Physical well-being | Feeling healthy, avoiding illness |
| B. Cognitive goals | |
| 1. Exploration | Satisfying curiosity, learning, avoiding ignorance |
| 2. Understanding | Gaining knowledge and making sense, avoiding misconceptions, errors, and confusion |
| 3. Intellectual creativity | Engaging in original thinking and novelty, avoiding familiarity |
| 4. Positive self-evaluation | Maintaining self-confidence or self-worth, avoiding feelings of failure and guilt |
| C. Subjective organization goals | |
| 1. Unity | Experiencing connectedness or harmony with people, nature, or greater power, avoiding feelings of psychological disunity |
| 2. Transcendence | Experiencing peak states of functioning, avoiding feelings of ordinariness |
II. Person-Environment Goals
The person-environment goals are about how we interact with the outside world via our relationships and work.
These goals can be self-assertive social relationship goals, integrative social relationship goals, or task goals.
A. Self-assertive social relationship goals
These are about establishing and maintaining individual identity, control, and status in social interactions — in essence, how we distinguish ourselves from others.
- Individuality — Feeling unique or special, avoiding conformity
- Self-determination — experiencing the freedom to act or choose, avoiding feelings of pressure or coercion
- Superiority — winning status or success compared to others, avoiding unfavorable comparisons
- Resource acquisition — obtaining support and approval from others, avoiding social rejection
B. Integrative social relationship goals
These goals focus on connecting with others, fulfilling social responsibilities, and promoting fairness — essentially, how we blend into and contribute to our social fabric.
- Belongingness — building and maintaining attachments and intimacy, avoiding isolation
- Social responsibility — meeting social obligations and conforming to moral conventions, avoiding unethical social conduct
- Equity — promoting fairness and justice, avoiding inequality or injustice
- Resource provision — giving approval or support to others, avoiding selfish or uncaring behavior
C. Task goals
Task goals are practical goals related to achievement and security. These range from:
- Mastery — meeting challenging standards for achievement, avoiding incompetence or performance drops
- Task creativity — engaging in artistry or creative expression, avoiding mundane or repetitive tasks
- Management — maintaining order or productivity, avoiding inefficiency or chaos
- Material gain — increasing possession of money or material goods, avoiding poverty or material loss
- Safety — being physically secure, avoiding threat or harm
Table 3: Person-Environment Goals
| Person-Environment Goal Type | Description |
|---|---|
| A. Self-assertive social relationship goals | |
| 1. Individuality | Feeling unique or special, avoiding conformity |
| 2. Self-determination | Experiencing the freedom to act or choose, avoiding feelings of pressure or coercion |
| 3. Superiority | Winning status or success compared to others, avoiding unfavorable comparisons |
| 4. Resource acquisition | Obtaining support and approval from others, avoiding social rejection |
| B. Integrative social relationship goals | |
| 1. Belongingness | Building and maintaining attachments and intimacy, avoiding isolation |
| 2. Social responsibility | Meeting social obligations and conforming to moral conventions, avoiding unethical social conduct |
| 3. Equity | Promoting fairness and justice, avoiding inequality or injustice |
| 4. Resource provision | Giving approval or support to others, avoiding selfish or uncaring behavior |
| C. Task goals | |
| 1. Mastery | Meeting challenging standards for achievement, avoiding incompetence or performance drops |
| 2. Task creativity | Engaging in artistry or creative expression, avoiding mundane or repetitive tasks |
| 3. Management | Maintaining order or productivity, avoiding inefficiency or chaos |
| 4. Material gain | Increasing possession of money or material goods, avoiding poverty or material loss |
| 5. Safety | Being physically secure, avoiding threat or harm |
- Discover actionable strategies to turn your goals into achievements: The Psychology of Goal-Setting: How To Make Your Goals Sticky
Final Words
So, once we know what category a goal is under, we can figure out what makes someone behave or decide the way they do.
However, knowing about goal class is the first step — the real challenge lies in setting and achieving them effectively.
√ Also Read: Arrival Fallacy: Why Achieving Goals Doesn’t Make You As Happy As You Expected
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