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Description: We integrate goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990) with research on the regulatory function of goal standards (Brendl & Higgins, 1996) – developing a new theoretical framework explaining how goal standards determine individuals’ satisfaction with their goal-performance discrepancies. We show that minimal and maximal goal standards affect the satisfaction function of goal-performance discrepancies in predictable ways. After failure, minimal (versus maximal) standards lead to lower levels of satisfaction, relatively irrespective of the degree of deviation from the goal. However, when goal standards are maximal, the satisfaction level becomes higher the closer one comes to achieving one’s goal. These effects are reverse for positive goal-performance discrepancies. Here, a minimal standards leads to a more continuous evaluation of over-achievement whereas a maximal standards lead to a fairly high level of satisfaction, relatively irrespective of the degree of over-achievement. Overall, this pattern of results was supported across five experimental studies. These effects seem to be independent of regulatory focus. Furthermore, satisfaction levels influence subsequent decision making.