Effects of Work and Play Signals on Task Evaluation1

An experiment was conducted to investigate how tasks are evaluated when signalled to be “work” or “play”. A simulation of managerial problem solving found that when a task was signalled as work it was evaluated primarily on the basis of information about its End, whereas when it was signalled as play it was evaluated primarily on the basis of information about its Means. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.