Action-construal levels and perceived conflict among ongoing goals: Implications for positive affect

The present work tested whether increases in level of action construal would relate to perceiving greater concordance among one's ongoing goals, thereby facilitating positive affect. In two studies, construing action abstractly was found to relate to experiencing positive affect, independent of self-esteem, perceiving meaning in life, and focusing on desirable goal outcomes. Increased across-goal concordance helped explain the relationship between levels of action construal and of positive affect. The findings thus appear consistent with the proposal that construing action abstractly promotes perceiving individual, specific goals and standards as related to a broader, coherent construal of one's self-regulatory efforts, thereby promoting positive affect and sustaining motivational intensity. Further implications for achievement, affect, and social judgment are considered.