The current research addresses dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic’s disruption to goal pursuit. Specifically, we examined the effects of disengaging from frozen goals (goals for which progress had been disrupted due to COVID-19). In May 2021, we asked participants (N = 226) what percentage of their goals were COVID-frozen goals and asked them to report their engagement in one such goal (vs. an active goal): the degree to which they think about the goal, ruminate about the goal, and are committed to the goal. Participants also reported on two facets of their recent well-being: psychological distress (stress, depressive symptoms, anxiety) and life satisfaction. As expected, percentage of COVID-frozen goals was positively associated with psychological distress (stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety). Moreover, frozen goal rumination (but not thought frequency or commitment) was negatively associated with life satisfaction and positively associated with psychological distress (stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety; even when controlling for active goal rumination). Furthermore, individual differences in the capacity to disengage and reengage in alternatives were negatively associated with frozen goal rumination, positively associated with life satisfaction, and negatively associated with psychological distress (stress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety). These results highlight the adaptive function of disengagement in goal pursuit. We discuss implications for the goal disengagement literature and for coping with COVID-19.

目前的研究解决了 COVID-19 大流行对目标追求的破坏的动态。具体来说，我们研究了脱离冻结目标（由于 COVID-19 而导致进展中断的目标）的影响。2021 年 5 月，我们询问了参与者 ( N = 226）他们的目标中有多少百分比是 COVID-frozen 目标，并要求他们报告他们对一个这样的目标的参与（相对于一个积极的目标）：他们对目标的思考、反思和承诺的程度到目标。参与者还报告了他们近期幸福感的两个方面：心理困扰（压力、抑郁症状、焦虑）和生活满意度。正如预期的那样，COVID 冻结目标的百分比与心理困扰（压力、抑郁症状和焦虑）呈正相关。此外，冻结的目标反刍（但不是思想频率或承诺）与生活满意度呈负相关，与心理困扰（压力、抑郁症状和焦虑；即使在控制主动目标反刍时也是如此）呈正相关。此外，脱离和重新参与替代方案的能力的个体差异与冻结的目标反思负相关，与生活满意度正相关，与心理困扰（压力、抑郁症状和焦虑）负相关。这些结果突出了脱离在目标追求中的适应性功能。我们讨论了对目标脱离文献和应对 COVID-19 的影响。