THE EFFECTS OF SELF-SET, PARTICIPATIVELY SET AND ASSIGNED GOALS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

A government agency wished to define effective supervisory behavior. Fifty-seven government employees participated in the job analysis. The employees were randomly assigned to one of three goal setting conditions, namely, self-set, participatively set, and assigned goals. The task required each individual to brainstorm individually job behaviors that he or she had seen make the difference between effective and ineffective job behavior as a supervisor. Goals were set in terms of the number of behaviors to be listed within 20 minutes. There was no significant difference in goal difficulty between those with participatively set goals and those with self-set goals. Goal difficulty was held constant between the participative and assigned goal conditions by imposing a goal agreed upon by an employee in the participative condition upon an employee in the assigned condition. There was no significant difference among the three goal setting conditions regarding goal acceptance or actual performance. This was true regardless of employee age, education, position level, years as a supervisor, or time employed in the public sector. The correlation between goal difficulty and performance was .62, .69, and .74, respectively, in the participative, self-set, and assigned goal conditions.     

Multicultural Peer Counseling: A Developmental Perspective and Rationale

This article focuses on the creation and growth of a peer counseling program assisting ethnic minority college students. A brief rationale of the program is offered. Problems are described and recommendations are made for subsequent program deuelopment.     

Feedback and accountability

This article describes a communications system for planning and carrying out guidance and counseling activities. In the proposed model not only professional team members but also consumers of professional services are regarded as active participants in all phases of guidance, from goal identification through outcome evaluation. The article stresses the importance of an adequate feedback system used by all participants and describes its relationship to counselor accountability.     

Reducing disruptive behavior through consultation

A university laboratory school counselor was consulted by a fourth grade teacher in order to resolve disruptive classroom behaviors of one student who did not stay seated and frequently spoke without permission. A behavioral approach in the classroom enabled the counselor to help. The teacher was instructed to pay attention to the child only when he remained seated or raised his hand for recognition. The student's behavior improved substantially. This study illustrates how the counselor can be effective as a consultant.     

Gameplay Decisions of University Badminton Students

This study used a modified multiple baseline approach across groups to determine the effects of a creative problem-solving intervention series on the game-play decision making of university badminton students. All subjects were videotaped five times (once per week) in five-minute game play sessions with the same partner each time. One group (experimental) underwent creative problem-solving interventions on a weekly basis. Following the interventions and videotaping, each five-minute segment was coded via computer for frequencies of occurring tactical decisions. Results suggest that although certain categories did not generate positive support, the experimental intervention tended to continually improve decision-making in the most strategic categories (running opponents and jamming them) during game play in badminton.