Variety among Means: Advancing Understanding of Equifinality in Goal Systems
Goals are pursued through their means to attainment, where means refers to the products, services, and behaviors that people buy, choose, or otherwise enact to advance a focal goal. Most goals are associated with multiple means, together referred to as the equifinality set. Extending prior work on goal-means configurations, which largely focused on the number of means in the equifinality set, this chapter reviews a program of research on variety among means-the actual or perceived variation among means to a goal-which shapes a range of goal-related phenomena. These include effects on “classic” goal outcomes, such as motivation, perceived goal progress, and attainment expectations, as well as diffuse higher-order goals, such as those for happiness, identity, and relationships. Finally, the author discusses variety as a goal pursued through its own means to attainment and concludes with suggestions for future research.
