The Nature of Interpersonal Goals
A goal is defined as something that people want to achieve or obtain at some point in the future (Dillard, 1990a; Pervin, 1989b). In addition, goals contain cognitive and emotional elements that affect how people behave toward each other.
Lack of goal compatibility can test the tolerance of people whose goal is blocked by another person. Once this occurs, people act to achieve or to safeguard their goals.Goals Lead to Action
Goals can be understood as the beginning of a sequence that includes plans and actions or what Dillard identifies as goal—plan—actions (GPA) (Dillard 1990a, 1990b). Plans follow goals and determine what behaviors should be used. Once a goal is obtained or not, then people use that experience in further pursuit of goals, which again leads to communication and so forth. Put differently, a person’s thoughts and desires for a goal motivate action, which is then directed toward the future and the achievement of other desired goals (Locke & Latham, 1990).
Goals Are Dynamic
People’s goals before an interaction may not be the same as goals they have as an interaction progresses (Sanders, 1991). Hocker and Wilmot (1991) label goals as prospective, transactive, and retrospective to represent the various times at which they are formed. Prospective goals refer to the goals you have before an interaction; transactive goals emerge during interaction; and retrospective goals refer to how people can reframe to make sense ofwhat occurred during the interaction. For example, you may begin a goal of convincing a friend to help you move furniture, but when you learn that your friend is having difficulties with an important project due the next day, you may change your goal to helping your friend complete the project on schedule. When looking back on the day you might tell yourself that you really did not want to move the furniture and mostly wanted to spend time with your friend. After all, the furniture can wait.