Der Lebenszielfragebogen GOALS: Befunde zur internen und externen
Validität auf der Basis einer repräsentativen
Bevölkerungsstichprobe und einer klinischen Stichprobe
Subtitle: The Life Goal
Questionnaire GOALS: Data on internal and external validity in a representative
population survey and a clinical sample
Affiliations: Universitätsklinik für Psychotherapie und
Psychosomatik, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische
Universität Dresden | Institut für Psychologie, Universität Gießen | Institut fürMedizinische Informatik und
Biometrie, Medizinische Fakultät Carl Gustav Carus, Technische
Universität Dresden | Abteilung für Medizinische Psychologie und
Medizinische Soziologie, Universitätsklinikum Leipzig, Universität
Leipzig
Note: [] Korrespondenzadresse: PD Dr. phil. Karin Pöhlmann,
Universitätsklinik für Psychotherapie und Psychosomatik,
Fetscherstraße 74, D-01307 Dresden. E-mail: Karin.Poehlmann@tu-dresden.de
Abstract: The life goals questionnaire GOALS (Pöhlmann & Brunstein, 1997)
assesses the six life goal categories of intimacy, affiliation, altruism,
achievement, power, and diversion. Each of the six categories contains four
items which are rated according to the goal attributes of importance,
attainability and current progress. This article presents three studies
examining the internal and external validity of GOALS and the stability of life
goals over a period of two years. Based on data of a representative population
sample (N = 2396) the factor structure was confirmed separately for the
importance as well as for the progress dimension in study 1. The psychometric
quality of the items and scales was found to be good to very good. In study 2
the factor structure was replicated in a sample of mentally healthy individuals
(N = 620) and in a clinical sample of patients suffering from depression (N =
464). In both samples the six life goal categories were identified as
independent factors within each of the three life goal attributes of
importance, attainability, and progress. Differences between healthy
individuals and patients suffering from depression in the extent of commitment
to life goals, their attainability and current progress in life goal attainment
provided evidence for the external validity of the questionnaire. In study 3 (N
= 86) the stability of life goals was examined over a time period of two years.
Commitment to life goals proved to be very stable while attainability and
current progress in attainment were found to be less stable. The results of the
three studies confirm that the life goal questionnaire GOALS possesses high
internal und external validity.
Keywords: Life goals, life goal taxonomy, life themes, motivation
