Beyond Achievement: Transformation Mindset Enhances Authenticity after Goal Success

In this article, we discuss three distinct mindsets that can change how people think about goal success: Thinking about goal success as (a) moving away from the old goal-unattained state; (b) arriving at the new goal-attained state; or (c) a transformation from the old to the new state. We review prior literature and new empirical findings and conclude that a transformation mindset leads to the highest feeling of authenticity and the lowest feeling of fragility after successfully attaining a goal. Importantly, this heightened feeling of authenticity and decreased sense of fragility contribute to positive social and individual learning behaviors, such as a greater desire to share goal-relevant information with others and interest in goal-maintenance behaviors. We end by underscoring the implications of developing a transformation mindset on human motivation, identity integration, intervention designs, and continuous self-development in contexts like education, health, and business.