ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how people can adapt when goals are unattainable and thereby maintain their psychological well-being and physical health. On the basis of self-regulation theories (Carver & Scheier, 1981, 1998), we argue that the pursuit of meaningful goals provides purpose for living and is an essential contributor to a person’s subjective well-being and physical health. In circumstances when an important life goal has become unattainable, however, a person’s sense of meaning can be threatened. The person may experience high levels of psychological distress and the associated negative consequences on physical health. In such situations, we argue that a person needs to engage in adaptive self-regulation processes that allow disengagement from the unattainable goal and reengagement in other meaningful goals and activities. Those people who are better able to disengage from unattainable goals and engage in other new goals should be more likely to maintain a sense of purpose in life, and thereby prevent distress and physical health problems, than people who have more difficulty with goal disengagement and goal reengagement.
