The Tenacious Goal Pursuit and Flexible Goal Adjustment Scales: A Validation Study

Inge Henselmans, Joke Fleer, Eric van Sonderen, Ans Smink, Robbert Sanderman, Adelita V. Ranchor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

29 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The flexible goal adjustment (FLEX) and tenacious goal pursuit (TEN) scales are used regularly in aging research. The current study examined their validity in a sample of 517 women (30-75 years) in multiple ways. Overall, the findings show that the scales do not clearly distinguish between FLEX and TEN. The direction in which the items were formulated was just as important as what was being measured. Moreover, face validity of the inversely phrased items in particular appeared to be weak. On the basis of these findings, the authors recommend a revision of the concept definitions as well as of the items.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)174-180
Number of pages7
JournalPsychology and Aging
Volume26
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2011

Keywords

  • Confirmatory factor analysis
  • Goals
  • Psychological adaptation
  • Self-regulation
  • Validity

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