Pursuing multiple goals during the commute: A dynamic self-regulatory perspective

The current review theorizes that self-regulatory principles can be applied to the commute experience to better understand how spatial navigation and role transition processes interface with each other. Using a multiple goal framework, spatial navigation and role transitions are conceptualized as simultaneous goals, each with their own set of effort allocation processes. Furthermore, the review describes how dynamic and stable features of the commute and of the different roles individuals enact come together to impact spatial navigation and role transition effectiveness, along with well-being and effectiveness in individuals’ “home” and “workplace” roles. The proposed framework offers novel predictions about how and why these two activities impact each other in different ways, providing testable propositions that will help researchers begin to better understand the commute as a time for multiple goal regulation. The review concludes with suggestions for future research aimed at investigating these processes. Plain Language Summary The commute represents a time when individuals are focused on physically moving from one location to another to meet the goal of arriving at one's destination in a safe and timely manner (Calderwood & Mitropoulos, 2020). At the same time, individuals may also have the goal of transitioning between roles, which involves mentally detaching from one role (e.g., deactivating goals involved with being a spouse) and reattaching to a second role (e.g., activating goals relevant to being an employee). As such, the current review views the commute as a time and place in which individuals may be striving for multiple goals that involve shifting attention and energetic resources between goals (Louro et al., 2007). The review uses a multiple goal framework (e.g., Louro et al., 2007) to explain how dynamic and stable features of the commute and of individuals’ roles come together to influence commute and role transition effectiveness and work and home outcomes. Further, the review concludes with suggestions for future research aimed at investigating these dynamic processes.