Goal Focus – Process vs. Outcome

Goal Focus refers to whether a person with a goal is focused more on the overall outcome and/or consequences of accomplishing said goal (outcome focus), or on the process and steps they will be taking during the goal pursuit (process focus).^​1​ The use of one or the other depends on individual tendencies, the goal at hand, and even the current phase of goal pursuit.^​2​

Process Focus

To have a process focus means to pay more attention to the activities that will be done during the process of goal pursual or task completion more than to what will happen when the goal is accomplished.

Approaching most goals with a process focus appears to be “more beneficial for successful goal pursuit, goal achievement, and subjective well-being than adopting an outcome focus,” especially when “a task is difficult […] or when the goal is demanding with respect to self-regulation.”^​2​

One reason for this may be that a focus on the process “is likely to provide guidelines for goal-relevant actions, enhance planning, and reduce anxiety.”^​2​ Because a process focus “directs attention to the small, immediate steps toward goal achievement,” it “reduce[s] fear of failure and task aversiveness– two well-known predictors of procrastination.”^​3​

Additionally, being aware of the steps that need to be taken means that the goal appears more “concrete” in the mind, thus “perciev[ing] it as more urgent and, thereby, are more likely to engage in goal pursuit and to procrastinate less.”^​3​

Additionally, when someone with a process focus fails to accomplish their goal, their “mood, subsequent motivation, and expectancy for future goal performance” is much less strongly impaired compared to failures involving an outcome focus.^​3​

Outcome Focus

An outcome focus, on the other hand, is the “motivation to engage in an activity because it is a means to a certain end.”^​1​

Generally, having an outcome focus tends to lead to less successful goal pursuit.^​2​ Focusing on the end state may be less motivating, as goal outcomes tend to be represented in the mind as more decontextualized, distal, and abstract,^​1​ and thus less urgent and in less need of being immediately attended to than do process conceptualizations.^​3​

However, an outcome focus is sometimes the most efficient approach to a goal. This is usually the case, for example, if the tasks required are already “mastered,” or are fairly easy to learn.^​2,3​

This may be because when accomplishing the task is fairly automatic, being able to keep your “eyes on the prize” could help you be “less distracted by alternative activities.”^​3​ Furthermore, “By moving their attention “up” to the “why” of goals, people can better appreciate and consolidate their own reasons for striving, which may then re-energize them towards the goal.”^​2​

Sources: