Life Goals and Mental Health

Abstract

It is an irrefutable fact that mankind has had goals in life since the very beginning. The pursuit of goals in life is one of the factors that protect mental health and improve quality of life. However, not only going after a goal in life but also what the actual goal is has an important effect on mental health. Life goals can be classified into two categories: intrinsic and extrinsic goals. Intrinsic goals can include a contribution to society, personal development, interpersonal relationships, and physical health while extrinsic goals can be to become famous and to be physically attractive and wealthy. Intrinsic goals are related with people's nature, needs, and relationships with their environment whereas extrinsic goals are related with goals that are shaped by the culture they are in, related with recognition, acceptance, and achieving results expected by others. Therefore, these two goal categories do not have the same effect on mental health. The purpose of this review is to investigate literature information concerning the effects of goals in life and their sub-dimensions and the effect of internal-extrinsic goals on mental health.