Goal pursuit and goal adjustment: Self-regulation and intentional self-development in changing developmental contexts

People strive to control their personal development and aging in order to strike a favorable balance of gains and losses; they do so, however, within changing developmental contexts that are partly beyond personal control. Subjective life-quality over the life course thus depends not only on efficient goal pursuit, but also on the readiness to adjust goals and ambitions to the feasible range. The model of assimilative and accommodative processes integrates these perspectives. At the core of this theory is the distinction between intentional efforts to actively change the situation so that it conforms more closely with personal preferences, and mechanisms through which goals and ambitions are adjusted to changes in action resources. The present chapter outlines implications for self-regulation and successful aging, paying particular attention to issues of depression, rumination, regret, compensation, and the emergence of self-transcendent orientations in later life.