Individuals have different implicit theories. They may hold an incremental theory and believe traits are malleable or an entity theory and believe traits are fixed. In past research implicit theories have been linked to achievement goals. The present study extends this research by investigating the relationship between implicit theories and personal goals. An experimental design was used to examine if priming individuals with a specific implicit theory impacts their goal prioritization. It was expected that individuals primed with an entity theory would place greater importance on intrinsic goals while individuals primed with an incremental theory would place greater importance on extrinsic goals. It was found that female participants rated the importance of financial success higher in the Entity condition compared to the Incremental condition and rated the importance of community feeling higher in the Incremental condition compared to the Entity condition. No significant differences were found with male participants. / Graduate

According to the dual valuing process model (Grouzet, 2013), the social context can either facilitate the natural human tendency to pursue intrinsic goals, or thwart it by promoting extrinsic goals. Congruent with this idea, research in self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) suggests that parental autonomy support (PAS) is associated with the development of intrinsic goals, whereas more controlling parenting styles, such as conditional regard (PCR), are expected to facilitate extrinsic goals. Results from two preliminary studies suggest that mothers tended to use PAS to promote goals that were more intrinsic, as well young adults were more likely to autonomously internalize these goals, whereas PCR was associated with more extrinsic goals. In the current study, we sought to extend these findings by including a general measure of perceived parenting style, as well as asking participants to recall a goal that was promoted during adolescence (i.e., 13-16 years). Results from this study indicate no difference in the type of goal that was promoted or the way in which it was internalized when mothers used either autonomy support or conditional regard, over and above general parenting style. Results will be further discussed in with respect to parenting, self-determination theory, and the dual valuing process model. / Graduate