Abstract
Introduction. The article presents an overview of the category “goal” from a psychological point of view, reveals the current state of goal research. The results of about 100 literary sources, including empirical studies of goals, are summarized. An attempt is being made to collect the definitions of the goal and generalize them into a single construct. The structure and properties of goals, the relationship between means and goals, the hierarchy of goals and sub-goals, the relationship between goals and plans, the processes of setting and achieving goals are shown. The novelty of the work lies in the refinement of the category “goal”, taking into account the currently available scientific knowledge, the construction of the psychological phenomenon “goal” based on the key characteristics used in the literature, identified deficiencies in the study of goals. Theoretical Basis. The theoretical developments of psychology in this field are used in all spheres of activity – in education, in production, in sports, in the healthcare system and in everyday life. Attention is paid to the conflict of goals and the distribution of resources between several goals, the T.O.T.E. model, the Rubicon action phases model, the Apter reversal theory, the concept of psychological distance to the goal, the topic of purposeful behavior from cybernetic positions. Results. The author gives a historical digression concerning the goal category of the late XIX–XX centuries, also reflects the results of research of modern times. Based on the analysis, it is established that the category “goal” in the XX century is rapidly developing and becoming one of the links of the motivational sphere of a person. Discussion. The category “goal” in psychology is the object of research of various psychological schools and trends and is of key importance in predicting behavior, occupies one of the central places in personality psychology. At this stage of the development of psychological science, the issues of the dynamics of the system of goals in various ecological environments and over time are insufficiently studied, the nature of the links in the system of goals is disclosed in the form of hierarchical schemes, without taking into account the weights of the connections themselves.
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