The influence of component participation and role models on goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance

The present investigation examined the effects of different types of participation (choice) and role models in goal setting on goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance. It was hypothesized that choice in setting a goal and a strategy to achieve the goal would positively benefit goal acceptance, performance, and goal satisfaction. In addition, it was predicted that a role model would differentially influence an individual's goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance. One hundred twenty male college students working on a class scheduling task were exposed to either a high- or low-performing role model and given various amounts of choice in the goal-setting process. The results of two-way analyses of variance demonstrated that goal acceptance, goal satisfaction, and performance were highest for individuals given choice over their goal and their strategy to achieve the goal. In addition, the results demonstrated that an individual exposed to a high-performing role model outperformed and had higher goal acceptance and satisfaction than an individual exposed to a low-performing model. The results are discussed as a means for clarifying the effects of different types of choice in the goal-setting process and the importance of role-provided information in influencing an individual's performance.     

The effects of individual differences and goal origin on goal setting and performance

The purpose of this study is to clarify the roles played by individual differences and goal origin in the goal setting process. In order to accomplish this objective this study (a) briefly reviews the existing empirical evidence on individual differences in the goal setting literature, (b) develops a model of the goal-setting process that specifies different roles for individual differences depending upon goal origin, and (c) tests hypotheses generated by this model in a laboratory setting. The results indicate that under self-set conditions variables associated with self-perceptions of task-specific ability, but not generalized self-esteem, are related to the difficulty of the goals selected, with more difficult goals being set by individuals high in task-specific ability perceptions. Furthermore, when goals are self-set, regardless of individual differences, the expectancy and valence of goal attainment tends to be high and invariant relative to assigned conditions (i.e., the motivation to pursue the goal is high), and a strong goal difficulty-performance relationship is in evidence for all subjects. Under assigned goal conditions, individual differences determine the reaction to the assigned goal. Individuals high in task-specific self-esteem have stronger expectancies for attaining the goal relative to those low in this trait; and, individuals high in generalized self-esteem exhibit higher valence for goal attainment than those low in generalized self-esteem. In assigned conditions, there was a positive goal difficulty-performance relationship only for individuals high in generalized self-esteem. Some evidence actually suggested that for subjects low in generalized self-esteem, it is better to assign low goals. Low goals seem to increase the self-perceived task-specific ability of these subjects which relates positively with performance.     

未来情景思考对目标达成的双刃作用及其机制

未来情景思考指个体想象并预先感受某个可能在未来发生的自我相关情景事件的心理加工,它对目标达成可产生双刃影响:一些思考方式会妨碍目标达成,如想象理想的结果或过程;而另一些思考方式则会促进目标达成,如过程模拟和想象较为消极的目标相关场景。对于未来情景思考是促进还是妨碍目标达成,动机水平的高低和执行意向的清晰程度可能是关键调节因素,相应的干预策略可通过增强这两者而将未来情景思考对目标达成的妨碍作用转化为促进作用。进一步的研究需系统探讨不同方式的未来情景思考影响目标达成的认知神经机制,并对目标特征和人格特点如何调节未来情景思考对目标达成的影响进行探讨。     

Personal goals and psychological growth: testing an intervention to enhance goal attainment and personality integration

We hypothesized that semester goal attainment provides a route to short-term psychological growth. In an attempt to enhance this process, we randomly assigned participants to either a goal-training program or to a control condition. Although there were no main effects of program participation on later goal attainment, important interactions were found. Consistent with a "prepared to benefit" model, participants already high in goal-based measures of personality integration perceived the program as most useful and benefited the most from the program in terms of goal attainment. As a result, they became even more integrated and also increased in their levels of psychosocial well-being and vitality. Implications for theories of short-term growth and positive change are discussed, as is the unanswered question of how to help less-integrated persons grow.     

Contextual and Individual Predictors of Psychological Disengagement From Sport During a Competitive Event

The present study aims to identify the processes underlying athletes' psychological disengagement during a competitive event. It was expected that goal attainment would predict psychological disengagement through the mediation of physical self‐worth. It was further hypothesized that athletic identity and passion for the activity would be predictors of psychological disengagement. Athletes completed measures of athletic identity, passion, and physical self‐worth before a competition; and perceived goal attainment, physical self‐worth, and psychological disengagement after a competition. Physical self‐worth mediated the relationship between perceived goal attainment and discounting. Obsessive passion and athletic identity were negatively related to devaluing over and above goal attainment and physical self‐worth. The study highlights individual and contextual correlates of psychological disengagement in the sport setting.     

Education as a moderator of goal setting effectiveness

The majority of empirical support for Locke's (1968) goal setting theory is based on a series of well designed and rigorous laboratory experiments with educated college students performing rather simple arithmetic and memorization tasks. There is little known about what role educational attainment plays in responsiveness to goal setting in a field setting. A sample of 128 skilled technicians working under an assigned goal setting program were studied in order to learn about the moderating impact of education on the relationship between performance and six goal setting properties. Speculation is advanced as to why education is an important moderator variable for specific types of goal setting properties.     

Missing the mark: effects of time and causal attributions on goal revision in response to goal-performance discrepancies

In an attempt to extend past goal setting research, the present study examined the influence of goal-performance discrepancies (GPDs), causal attributions, and temporal factors on the process of dynamic self-regulation. Goal revision processes were examined longitudinally in a sample of 100 varsity-level college track and field athletes over the course of an 8-week competitive season. The results indicate that an individual's GPD significantly predicted the amount of goal revision engaged in by the athletes, such that participants were more likely to lower their competition (proximal) and season (distal) goals when they failed to reach these goals and their respective GPDs were large. However, as hypothesized, this relationship was moderated by stability attributions and the temporal location of the individual with respect to the time period allotted for goal attainment. Implications for future research in the area of goal setting and dynamic self-regulation are discussed.     

Strategies of self‐regulation in goal attainment versus goal maintenance

We propose that there exists an important difference between attainment and maintenance in terms of the goal pursuit strategies for which they call. Specifically, we propose that goal attainment calls for the use of eager approach strategies, whereas goal maintenance calls for the use of vigilant avoidance strategies. We distinguish between attainment versus maintenance as two different goal pursuit conditions on the one hand, and promotion versus prevention focus as two different self‐regulatory concerns on the other hand. We then use insights from Regulatory Fit Theory to make predictions concerning the interactive effects of these two motivational dimensions on outcome valuations. Consistent with our proposal about attainment and maintenance, we found that participants in a promotion focus valued the outcome of an attainment task more than did participants in a prevention focus, whereas the opposite was true for a maintenance task. Implications for maintenance‐related phenomena such as belief perseverance effects are subsequently discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Examination of the Cognitive Mechanisms by Which Assigned Goals Affect Task Performance and Reactions to Performance1

In this study, cognitive mechanisms by which assigned goals affect task performance and reactions to performance were examined. Subjects working on a creativity task were assigned one of three performance goals varying in difficulty. Ratings of subjective probability of goal attainment, expected performance, expected satisfaction with goal attainment, and desired performance were obtained prior to each of five blocks of trials. Ratings of satisfaction with performance were obtained after each trial block and ratings of ability were obtained after all trials were completed. As predicted, with increased goal difficulty, subjective probability of goal attainment decreased, but expected performance, expected satisfaction with goal attainment, and desired performance increased. Contrary to prediction, the effect of goal difficulty on task performance was not significant. LISREL analyses revealed that goal difficulty exerted both positive (through expected and desired performance) and negative (through subjective probability of goal attainment) effects on performance. Goal difficulty had a negative effect on satisfaction with performance and ratings of perceived ability. The importance of identifying the cognitive mechanisms by which assigned goals affect performance and the need to consider consequences of assigned goals other than task performance are discussed.     

Unconscious goal activation and the hijacking of the executive function

Building on research on unconscious human goal pursuit and the dynamic nature of our mental and physical world, this study examined the idea that an unconsciously activated goal hijacks executive control for its own attainment. This "hijacking" of the executive function by an unconscious goal should be evidenced by impaired performance on an unrelated task relying on executive control. The results of 6 experiments show that subliminal activation of a socializing goal, or an idiosyncratic personal goal, or an academic goal, harmed participants' performance on an executive function task, such as inhibition of prepotent responses and detection of text errors during reading. These effects were unique to executive control, were similar when the goal was activated consciously, and were independent of task motivation and perceived inter-goal relatedness between the primed goal and task goal. Furthermore, an unconscious goal occupied executive control to advance itself more strongly when the goal had personal value. Implications for theory and research on unconscious goal pursuit and the executive function are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION, INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES, GOAL DIFFICULTY, GOAL ACCEPTANCE, GOAL INSTRUMENTALITY, AND PERFORMANCE

A field study was conducted with 41 female typists in a large corporation to test an explanatory model of goal setting. Weekly productivity goals were either assigned by the supervisors or were set jointly with a typist. Goals were set for ten consecutive weeks. A correlational analysis of the data indicated that difficult goals led to higher performance. Higher performance led to higher absolute goals for the subsequent week, but smaller improvement goals. Persons with a high need for achievement and an internal control orientation set higher goals. Goal setting led to greater overall performance improvement for employees who had high self esteem or who perceived goal attainment to be instrumental for getting extrinsic rewards. Hypothesized relationships involving goal acceptance were not supported, which may have been due to a lack of validity for the goal acceptance measure.     

When goals loom darker: Goal ambivalence moderates the effect of goal proximity on goal-related motivation

This research extends previous work on the self-regulation of goal striving as well as effects of temporal and psychological distance on motivation. Borrowing from classic work on goal gradients and approach-avoidance conflicts, we predicted that the experience of ambivalence toward a personal goal moderates the extent to which feeling or being close to goal attainment affects motivation, such that greater proximity to the goal has a negative effect on motivation at higher levels of experienced goal ambivalence. We find evidence for the hypothesized effect across three studies examining different goals (pursuing a degree, running a half-marathon) with varying operationalizations of goal proximity (self-reported, manipulated, temporal) and motivation (goal commitment, intention strength). These results validate that classic concepts of motivation science such as goal gradients and approach-avoidance conflict are both relevant and applicable to the everyday pursuit of self-set personal goals.     

Relationships among age, sex, and depth of sport experience with initial open-task performance by 4- to 9-year-old children.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relative interrelationships of age, sex, and depth of sport experience on initial practice of a soccer task for 46 4- to 9-yr.-old children. Each child practiced 1 transfer trial and 3 blocks of 3 trials. Measures recorded were performance time, goal attainment, and movement accuracy. Multivariate analyses of variance and multiple regressions yielded evidence for (a) a speed-accuracy tradeoff, (b) a relation of age to goal attainment, movement accuracy, and performance time on the transfer trial, and (c) a relation of age with Block 1 performance time. Experience was more related than sex to all variables except movement accuracy in Block 1 and consistency of goal attainment. Conclusions are that age and experience are the most important to the quality of performance, and no constructs were related to consistency on this task for this age group.     

The Influence of Commitment to Assigned Goals and Performance on Subsequent Self-Set Goals and Performance1

Seventy-seven undergraduates were assigned a performance goal for the first of two trials of a word game, and set goals for themselves on a second trial. Goal commitment was hypothesized to moderate the influence of goal level on performance within both trials. In addition, commitment to the assigned Trial I goals was hypothesized to moderate the relationship between goal attainment and self-set goals for the second trial. Subjects' initial performance on a practice trial was also hypothesized to interact with the goal levels they were assigned on the first trial, such that individuals who performed relatively well on the practice trial were expected to evidence a greater positive relationship between goal level and performance than individuals who performed relatively poorly on the practice trial. The results of three moderated regression analyses yielded no support for the hypothesized within-trial moderating influence of goal commitment on goal level-performance relations. However, commitment to assigned goals and goal attainment did interact as related to personal goals for Trial 2. Further, the hypothesized influence of practice trial performance and assigned goal level on Trial I performance was supported. The results are discussed in terms of how goal levels should be determined and assigned to employees, and the role of goal commitment in goal setting predictions.     

Goal conflict, goal striving, and psychological well-being

Although goal conflict is an important part of classic and contemporary theories of motivation, the correlates of goal conflict are not well understood. We identify and distinguish conflicting and facilitating goals, and assess relations with goal attainment and psychological well-being in a short-term, prospective study design. Results from multilevel models demonstrated that individuals with greater conflict were less successful in attaining their goals, but the goals they failed attain were not necessarily the ones in conflict. People who experienced goal conflict tended to be ruminative and hesitant, and reported greater levels of negative affect and increases in depression, anxiety, and psychosomatization. People who experienced goal facilitation reported greater levels of positive affect, life satisfaction, and successful goal attainment. This study identifies several implications of holding conflicting and facilitating goals, but also points to a theoretical inconsistency pertaining to goal conflict. Namely, conflicting goals may not be inherently less attainable than nonconflicting goals. We argue that distinguishing between goal- and person-level factors is essential for understanding goal striving.     

Goal attainment as a resource: The cushion effect in risky choice above a goal

Goals are a ubiquitous part of life and have been shown to change behavior in many domains. This research studied the influence of goal attainment on risky choice behavior. Previous research has shown that goals tend to increase risk‐seeking behavior when potential outcomes fall below a goal. We examined a new problem: Choice behavior when all potential outcomes in a choice set achieve or exceed the goal. Two studies show a “cushion effect” of goal attainment on choice under risk. When all possible outcomes of all options are above a salient and specific goal, decision makers are more likely to choose a risky option over a certain outcome with equal expected value (EV). We hypothesized that the attainment of a goal serves as a cushion that softens the negative emotions associated with receiving a gamble's low outcome. This allows risk taking that would otherwise be unattractive. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating the individual counseling of conduct problem adolescents: The goal attainment scaling method

Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS) is described as a potentially useful way of evaluating goal attainment of individual counseling provided to public school adolescents with conduct problems. Utilization of the GAS method for individual counseling involves a counselor (e.g., school psychologist) and a pupil in goal setting, program design, goal attainment scaling, and goal attainment evaluation activities. An application of the GAS method to evaluate goal attainment of individual counseling of conduct problem adolescents in an urban high school is presented, and formative evaluation data pertaining to practical and technical properties of the approach are reported. Advantages and limitations of the GAS method are discussed.     

Evaluating the outcome of counselling in primary care using a goal attainment scale

This study evaluates the outcome of counselling in primary care. The method replicates part of a previous study in the same setting and finds similar results. Outcome was assessed by clients using a goal attainment scale. A high rate of goal attainment was reported. A content analysis system was used to categorize goals, a high level of inter-rater reliability was found. The majority of goals were those aspiring to some 'change' in the clients' lives. This study found that these goals were predominately expressed in positive rather than negative terms. Limitations of the study include the lack of data on the clients who chose not to participate. Recommendations for future research are to include the opinions of these clients.     

Self-regulation through goal setting

The extant literature on goal setting through 1990 has been reviewed and integrated by Locke and Latham (1990a). The result was the development of a theory of goal setting with special emphasis on its practical implications for the motivation of employees in organizational settings. The purpose of the present paper is twofold. First, the theory is summarized and updated with respect to research completed since publication of the 1990 book. Second, the self-regulatory effects of goal setting are described. Emphasis is given to ways that people can use goals as a self-management technique.