Hier zijn twee publicatie over de relatie tussen zelfkritiek en doelprogressie.

Self-criticism, motivation, and goal progress of athletes and musicians: A prospective study

Powers, Koestner, Lacaille, Kwan & Zuroff (2009)

The current research examined the relations among self-criticism, self-concordant motivation and goal progress of athletes and musicians. The results of a short-term prospective study showed that self-criticism was negatively associated with self-concordant goal motivation and with goal progress. The effect of self-criticism on goal progress appeared to be mediated by self-concordant motivation. Results also showed that self-criticism moderated the relation of goal progress to negative affect, such that the negative affect of self-critics was contingent on their level of perceived goal progress. These findings suggest that self-criticism not only represents a risk factor in the pursuit of personal goals, but also for negative affect subsequent to setbacks in goal pursuit.

The Effects of Self-Criticism and Self-Oriented Perfectionism on Goal Pursuit

Powers, Koestner, Zuroff, Milyavskaya, Gorin (2011)

Five separate studies examined the associations of self-criticism and self-oriented perfectionism with goal pursuit across a variety of domains. Although self-criticism has previously been shown to be related to diminished goal progress, a controversy remains regarding the potential association between aspects of “positive perfectionism,” such as self-oriented perfectionism, and enhanced goal progress. The results of the five studies demonstrated a consistent pattern of negative association between self-criticism and goal progress. The results also showed a positive association between self-oriented perfectionism and goal progress when self-criticism was controlled. The important role of self-criticism for understanding the impact of perfectionistic concerns is highlighted by these results. Implications for the debate concerning the possible positive effects of perfectionistic strivings are also discussed.