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Goal-Setting
This article discusses the development of goal setting theory through induction. The processes such as formulating concepts and definitions, measurement issues, data gathering, data integration and presentation, identifying moderators and mediators, resolving contradictions, noting issues in application, expansions and extensions, and the role of induction in deduction are explained. A multi-decade effort that involves these processes led to a useful theory that has withstood the test of time.
An understudied issue in the goal priming literature is why the same prime can provoke different responses in different people. The current research sheds light on this issue by investigating whether an individual difference variable, core self-evaluations (CSE), accounts for different responses from the same prime. Based on the findings of experiments showing that individuals with high CSE have higher performance after consciously setting a task-related goal than individuals with lower CSE, two hypotheses were tested: (1) Individuals who score high on CSE perform better following a subconsciously primed goal for achievement than do individuals who score low on CSE, and (2) this effect is mediated by a self-set goal. Two laboratory experiments (n = 207, 191) and one field experiment (n = 62) provided support for the hypotheses. These findings suggest that personality variables such as the CSE can provide an explanation for the "many effects of the one prime problem".
The Present study empirically examines the impact of perfectionist striving on active behavior and task performance. Work motivation used as a mediating mechanism and basic psychological needs employed as a moderator between perfectionist striving and workplace behaviors. It’s a moderated mediating study because of the interest of knowing the conditional nature of mediating variable. Self-determination theory has been employed as theoretical background of these relationships in order to have full and thorough understanding of the link from perfection to performance. Data were collected from 220 subordinatessupervisor matching dyads of engineers from different organizations of Pakistan using convenient sampling technique. Exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical regression used to check the direct relationships. Indirect macro used for mediating relations and process macro used for moderating relation of the study.
Results supported the positive association of perfectionist striving with task performance and proactive behaviour. Furthermore, results also supported the mediating effect of work motivation. However, results could not predict the moderating role of basic psychological needs. Moreover, findings of present research bring an important implications for organizations to consider perfectionism as positive attitude because it relates to adaptive outcome and positive work behaviours such as performance.
Uniting separate research streams on situational and dispositional goals, we investigated goal setting and goal orientation together in a complex business simulation. A specific learning goal led to higher performance than did either a specific performance goal or a vague goal. Goal orientation predicted performance when the goal was vague. The performance goal attenuated correlations between goal orientation and performance. The correlation between a learning goal orientation and performance was significant when a learning goal was set. Self-efficacy and information search mediated the effect of a learning goal on performance. Goal setting studies have their roots in organizational psychology, in contrast to research on goal orientation, which has roots in educational psychology. The focus of goal orientation studies is primarily on ability, whereas that of goal setting is on motivation. Consequently, the tasks used in goal setting research are typically straightforward for research participants, as the emphasis is primarily on effort and persistence. The tasks used in studies of goal orientation are usually complex, as the focus is on the acquisition of knowledge and skill. Performance is a function of both ability and motivation. Yet one research camp rarely takes into account findings by the other. The result is increasing confusion in the literature between a performance goal and a performance goal orientation; between the roles of situational as opposed to dis-positional goals as determinants of behavior; the circumstances in which a learning goal versus a learning goal orientation is likely to increase performance ; and whether goal orientation is a mod-erator of the goal-performance relationship. The purpose of the experiment reported here was to draw connections between these two related yet separate streams of work in organizational behavior , namely, goal setting and goal orientation.
Other things equal, higher intelligence leads to better job performance on all jobs. Intelligence is the major determinant of job performance, and therefore hiring people based on intelligence leads to marked improvements in job performance – improvements that have high economic value to the firm. This principle is the subject of this chapter.
Contrary to the extant thinking on motivation in the workplace, we argue that performance or outcome goals can have a deleterious effect on one's performance. We demonstrate that in situations where primarily the acquisition of knowledge and skills rather than an increase in effort and persistence is required, a specific challenging learning rather than an outcome goal should be set. A learning goal draws attention away from the end result. The focus instead is on the discovery of effective strategies or processes to attain desired results. The practical implications of learning goals for leadership, performance appraisal, and professional development are explained.
The purpose of this research was to develop an efficient, construct-valid measure of goal commitment. Drawing from a set of 9 unidimensional items, a 4-item unidimensional scale was developed that exhibited a .71 internal consistency estimate of reliability. This scale showed statistically significant relationships with 3 alternative measures of the same construct: force to attain the goal, self-set goal-assigned-goal discrepancy, and actual goal change. With respect to other constructs in the goal commitment nomological net, the results indicated that the scale was consistently related to performance. Moreover, the pattern of the results with expected antecedents such as goal publicness, monetary incentives, need for achievement, locus of control, and task involvement were statistically significant and in the predicted direction.
