Skip to main content
Log in

Do people ruminate because they haven’t digested their goals? The relations of rumination and reflection to goal internalization and ambivalence

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Motivation and Emotion Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In three studies it was investigated whether rumination was related to less internalized self-regulation and goals and whether reflection was related to more internalized self-regulation and goals. In all studies students completed questionnaires measuring rumination, reflection, and internalization of self-regulation and goals. In Study 1, rumination was related to less internalized self-regulation, whereas reflection was related to more internalized self-regulation. In Study 2, rumination was related to less internalized self-regulation and goals as well as to more avoidance- and extrinsic content of goals. Reflection was related to more internalized self-regulation and goals as well as to less avoidance content of goals. In Study 3, goal-specific rumination was related to less internalized goals and goal-specific reflection was related to more internalized goals. Collectively, the studies suggest that internalization of self-regulation and goals is critical for distinguishing between unconstructive and constructive self-focused repetitive thoughts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173–1182.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borkovec, T. D., Ray, W. J., & Stöber, J. (1998). Worry: A cognitive phenomenon intimately linked to affective, physiological, and interpersonal behavioural processes. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 22, 561–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brosschot, J. F., Gerin, W., & Thayer, J. F. (2006). The perserverative cognition hypothesis: A review of worry, prolonged stress-related physiological activation, and health. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 60, 113–124.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and it’s role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2000a). Autonomy and self-regulation. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 284–291.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carver, C. S., & Scheier, M. F. (2000b). On the structure of behavioral self-regulation. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 41–84). San Diego, USA: Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. A., & Purdon, C. L. (1995). The assessment of unwanted intrusive thoughts: A review and critique of the literature. Behavior Research and Therapy, 33, 967–976.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davis, R. N., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). Cognitive inflexibility among ruminators and nonruminators. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 24, 699–711.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). The general causality orientations scale: Self-determination in personality. Journal of Research in Personality, 19, 109–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuit: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 227–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot, A. J., & Sheldon, K. M. (1998). Avoidance personal goals and the personality-illness relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1282–1299.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A. (1986). Personal strivings: An approach to personality and subjective well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1058–1068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A. (1999). The psychology of ultimate concerns: Motivation and spirituality in personality. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A., & Kaiser, H. A. (1996). Goal orientation and emotional well-being: Linking goals and affect through the self. In L. L. Martin & A. Tesser (Eds.), Striving and feeling. Interactions among goals, affect, and self-regulation (pp. 79–98). Mahvah, USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, R. A., & King, L. A. (1988). Conflict among personal strivings: Immediate and long-term implications for psychological and physical well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1040–1048.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgins, H. S., & Knee, C. R. (2002). The integrating self and conscious experience. In E. L. Deci & R. M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research. Rochester, US: The University of Rochester Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janoff-Bulman, R. (2006). Schema-change perspectives on posttraumatic growth. In L. G. Calhoun & R. G. Tedechi (Eds.), Handbook of posttraumatic growth. Mahvah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 410–422.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koestner, R., Bernieri, F., & Zuckerman, M. (1992). Self-regulation and consistency between attitudes, traits, and behaviors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 52–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kross, E., Ayduk, O., & Mischel, W. (2005). When asking “why” does not hurt. Distingusishing rumination from reflective processing of negative emotions. Psychological Science, 16, 709–715.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J. (1992). A theory of self-regulation: Action versus state orientation, self-discrimination, and some applications. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 41, 97–129.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J. (2000). A functional-design approach to motivation and self-regulation. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 111–169). San Diego, USA: Academic Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhl, J., & Kazén, M. (1994). Self-discrimination and memory: State orientation and false self-ascription of assigned activities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 1103–1115.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luyckx, K., Soenens, B., Berzonsky, M. D., Smits, I., Goossens, L., & Vansteenkiste, M. (2007). Information-oriented identity processing, identity consolidation, and well-being: The moderating role of autonomy, self-reflection, and self-rumination. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 1099–1111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (1995). Effects of self-focused rumination on negative thinking and interpersonal problem solving. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 176–190.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lyubomirsky, S., Tucker, K. L., Caldwell, N. D., & Berg, K. (1999). Why ruminators are poor problem solvers: Clues from the phenomenology of dysphoric rumination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 1041–1060.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. L., & Tesser, A. (1989). Toward a motivational and structural theory of ruminative thought. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. L., & Tesser, A. (1996). Some ruminative thoughts. In R. S. Wyer (Ed.), Ruminative thoughts. Advances in social cognition (Vol. IX). Mahvah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niemiec, C. P., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2009). The path taken: Consequences of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in post college life. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 291–306.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 400–424.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olesen, M. H., Thomsen, D. K., Schnieber, A., & Tønnesvang, J. (2010). Distinguishing general causality orientations from personality traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 538–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmuck, P., Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic goals: Their structure and relationship to well-being in German and U.S. college students. Social Indicators Research, 50, 225–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Elliot, A. J. (1998). Not all personal goals are personal: Comparing autonomous and controlled reasons for goals as predictors of effort and attainment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 546–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (1995). Coherence and congruence: Two aspects of personality integration. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 531–543.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., & Kasser, T. (1998). Pursuing personal goals: Skills enable progress, but not all progress is beneficial. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 1319–1331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., & Kasser, T. (2004). The independent effects of goal contents and motives on well-being: It’s both what you pursue and why you pursue it. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 475–486.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tedechi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15, 1–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen, D. K. (2006). Rumination and negative affect—a review. Cognition & Emotion, 20, 1216–1235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomsen, D. K., Schnieber, A., & Olesen, M. H. (under review). Rumination is associated with the phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories and future scenarios.

  • Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Treynor, W., Gonzalez, R., & Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2003). Rumination reconsidered: A psychometric analysis. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 27, 247–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, E. R. (2008). Constructive and unconstructive repetitive thought. Psychological Bulletin, 134, 163–206.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, E., & Teasdale, J. D. (2001). Rumination and overgeneral memory in depression: Effects of self-focus and analytic thinking. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 353–357.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, E., Teasdale, J. D., & Williams, R. M. (2000). Decentring and distraction reduce overgeneral autobiographical memory in depression. Psychological Medicine, 30, 911–920.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Thomas Jensen & Cathrine Kingo for their help with coding the data in Study 2 and Bo Sommerlund & Mark Shevelin for their statistical assistance. Our gratitude to the Registry at the University of Aarhus, and in particular Hans Jørgen Hansen for his help with recruiting participants for Study 2. Also thanks to Mimi Mehlsen for her comments on an earlier version of the manuscript and to Professor Richard Ryan for his editorial work, which improved the paper significantly. The study was supported by a grant from the Research Council for the Humanities (grant number: 273-06-0395) to the first and second author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dorthe Kirkegaard Thomsen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Thomsen, D.K., Tønnesvang, J., Schnieber, A. et al. Do people ruminate because they haven’t digested their goals? The relations of rumination and reflection to goal internalization and ambivalence. Motiv Emot 35, 105–117 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9209-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-011-9209-x

Keywords

Navigation