| Popis: |
It has been widely demonstrated that monitoring one’s current standing with respect to goals can promote effective self-regulation. However, in many instances, people intentionally avoid or reject information that would help them tomonitor their goal progress, a phenomenon that we refer to as ‘the ostrich problem’. For example, many people with diabetes avoid monitoring their blood glucose, few people check their bank balances regularly, keep track of what they are eating, and so on. While situational constraints can explain some problems with progress monitoring, we argue that the ostrich problem often arises because people are motivated to protect or enhance the self, or to confirm their existing views about themselves. For example, people may dismiss signs indicating that they are performing below par because they do not want to believe that their efforts are inadequate. The review article to which this teaching and learning guide pertains to collates evidence representing the ostrich problem, describes different motives that underlie the decision to monitor versus not monitor goal progress, illustrates how the ostrich problem might be integrated into models of self-regulation, and provides suggestions for future research. |
