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Introduction This research is looking at the possibility that representations of significant others can influence goal commitments, goal achievements and continual efforts at self-regulation. In 1902 Cooley introduced the idea that we see ourselves through the eyes of significant others. Significant others can be family, friends, or more general authority figures. Both classic and modern conceptions of self-regulation show that the psychological presence of “inner audiences” affects our judgments, experiences and social actions. Morretti and Higgins in 1999 stated that significant others also influence our character, standards, traits, duties, and expectations. Shah in 2003 demonstrated through earlier research that significant others guide us towards goals they want us to pursue and actually inhibit us from going for goals they personally disapprove of. This paper takes these ideas further to ask if representations of significant others may actuate goals and goal commitments, and affect the nature of goals by influencing how we perceive the difficulty and general value of these goals as they fulfill specific needs. The outcome of this research could also lead to a better understanding of the emotional and behavioral impact of significant others. Methods This research was conducted in three separate studies. Study number one was comprised of 48 undergraduate psychology students from the University of Wisconsin, ages 18-25. The gender of the participants did not significantly influence the outcome of the study. The test was carried out on IBM compatible computers. Each participant was told they would be asked to complete an anagram task as a measure of verbal fluency. The task was to make as many words as possible from a string of letters. Before starting the anagram task, they were asked to complete a questionnaire. The participants were asked to provide the first name of the significant other (friend or family member) who would have the strongest believe (positive or negative) about how difficult the upcoming task would be for them and to rate how difficult the significant other would believe this task to be.
Approximate Word count = 1293
Approximate Pages = 5.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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