Rasmussen, H. N., Wrosch, C., Scheier, M. F., & Carver, C. S. (2006). Self-regulation processes and health: The importance of optimism and goal adjustment. Journal of Personality, 74, 1721-1748.
This article discusses how self-regulatory models can be used to
understand people’s response to health threats. The article begins
with a general discussion of the principles and assumptions of
self-regulatory models of behavior. Two distinct lines of research are
then presented addressing two important processes of adaptive
self-regulation. First, we provide a brief overview of the
literature on optimism and adjustment to chronic disease and other
health outcomes. Second, we present an overview of the process of
disengagement from unattainable goals, focusing on recent research. We
close by making recommendations for future research.
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