Determination is a positive emotional feeling that promotes persevering towards a difficult goal in spite of obstacles. Determination occurs prior to goal attainment and serves to motivate behavior that will help achieve one's goal. Empirical research suggests that people consider determination to be an emotion; in other words, determination is not just a cognitive state, but an affective state. In the psychology literature, researchers study determination under other terms, including challenge and anticipatory enthusiasm; this may explain one reason for the relative lack of research on determination compared to other positive emotions.In the field of psychology, emotion research focuses on negative emotions and the behaviors they prompt. However, positive psychology delves into determination as a positive emotion driving people toward action, leading to significant results like persistence and success. Etymology The word determination comes from the Latin word dēterminatiō, meaning "limit" or "determination, end result". It is derived from the verb ...