Test of the mediating role of goals in the incentive-performance relationship.

The mediating role of goal setting in the relationship between incentives and performance was investigated by specifically testing the effect on monetary incentives on subjects' personal goal level and commitment to an assigned goal. Subjects performed a computer-card sorting task for a 20-min practice trial and a 20-min experimental trial. In the experimental trial, they worked under 1 of 3 monetary incentive conditions (piece rate, hourly rate, and goal-attainment bonus). Incentives were unrelated to performance but did affect personal goal level and commitment to an assigned goal. These latter two variables were both strongly related to performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of social comparison in choice shifts.

Tested social comparison predictions regarding influence processes related to risk taking in groups. It was predicted that a more complete information exchange condition would produce a shift toward risk of greater magnitude than a traditional information exchange condition. Two replications using 137 college students confirmed the prediction. Shifts toward risk were as likely to occur in groups where Ss exchanged information about their positions on the Choice Dilemma Questionnaire (CDQ) and information about their self-ratings of ability as in ordinary group discussions of the CDQ items. Ss in groups where only information about CDQ positions was exchanged showed far fewer shifts to risk. Findings are discussed in terms of a social comparison analysis of the social influence processes involved in risky shifts, which assumes that comparison processes can be engaged fully only when comparability is established by knowledge of other group members' standing on traits thought to be related to risk taking. (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

干熄焦系统中硫化物产生及其变化规律

通过热解试验及建模分析,对干熄焦系统中硫化物产生原因及其变化规律开展了研究。焦炭残余挥发分和焦炭烧损是干熄焦系统中硫化物的主要来源,且存在硫化物的平衡浓度(S_e)。采用热重质谱联用仪对生焦进行热解分析,推测焦炭残余挥发分主要成分是H₂。通过建模分析,当不考虑焦炭残余挥发分的影响时,硫化物的平衡浓度仅与导入空气中O₂含量、焦炭中的硫和碳含量有关。当烧损量一定时,存在一特定值,当S_r(残余挥发分中硫的体积分数)大于该值时,S_e随V_r(单位时间内在干熄系统内释放的焦炭残余挥发分体积)增大而增大;当S_r小于该值时,S_e随V_r增大而减小。对某干熄焦循环气体中SO₂浓度进行了检测,检测值低于不考虑残余挥发分时的理论值S0_e,推测该干熄焦系统中残余挥发分的存在降低了干熄焦系统中S_e。     

Effects of expressiveness, content coverage, and incentive on multidimensional student rating scales: New interpretations of the Dr. Fox effect.

Reanalyzed data from 2 studies with 419 undergraduates of the Dr. Fox effect (R. G. Williams and J. E. Ware; see PA, Vol 55:8285 and Vol 60:12778). Factor analysis identified 5 evaluation factors that varied in the way they were affected by experimental manipulations of instructor expressiveness (IE) and content coverage in 3 incentive conditions. For Ss in the incentive condition most like the actual classroom, the Dr. Fox effect was not supported in that (a) IE only affected ratings of Instructor Enthusiasm—the factor most logically related to the manipulation—and (b) content coverage affected ratings of Instructor Knowledge—the factor most logically related to that manipulation—and examination performance, but not ratings of Instructor Enthusiasm. However, when Ss were not given the incentive to learn, IE had a greater impact than did content coverage on each of the rating factors (supporting the Dr. Fox effect) and examination performance. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: Problems, prospects, and proposals for future research.

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of goal commitment in goal-setting research. Despite Locke's (1968) specification that commitment to goals is a necessary condition for the effectiveness of goal setting, a majority of studies in this area have ignored goal commitment. In addition, results of studies that have examined the effects of goal commitment were typically inconsistent with conceptualization of commitment as a moderator. Building on past research, we have developed a model of the goal commitment process and then used it to reinterpret past goal-setting research. We show that the widely varying sizes of the effect of goal difficulty, conditional effects of goal difficulty, and inconsistent results with variables such as participation can largely be traced to main and interactive effects of the variables specified by the model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: Conceptual clarification and empirical synthesis.

Goals are central to current treatments of work motivation, and goal commitment is a critical construct in understanding the relationship between goals and task performance. Despite this importance, there is confusion about the role of goal commitment and only recently has this key construct received the empirical attention it warrants. This meta-analysis, based on 83 independent samples, updates the goal commitment literature by summarizing the accumulated evidence on the antecedents and consequences of goal commitment. Using this aggregate empirical evidence, the role of goal commitment in the goal-setting process is clarified and key areas for future research are identified. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Process characteristics of worry and obsessive intrusive thoughts

One hundred and twenty-five university students were administered a battery of self-report measures to assess worry disposition and content, frequency of obsessive intrusive thoughts, and 10 conceptually derived appraisal dimensions of worry and obsessional intrusions. Process ratings indicated that the worrisome thoughts were considered more disturbing than the ego-dystonic intrusive thoughts. Worry was also distinguished by a focus on the possible consequences of negative events, whereas concern about the personal meaning of the thought was a unique process dimension for obsessive intrusive thoughts. Both content and process variables are important in differentiating worry and obsessive-like intrusive thoughts in a nonclinical population.     

A meta-analytic review of occupational commitment: Relations with person- and work-related variables.

Relations between occupational commitment (OC) and several person- and work-related variables were examined meta-analytically (76 samples; across analyses, Ns ranged 746–15,774). Major findings are as follows. First, OC was positively related to job-focused constructs such as job involvement and satisfaction, suggesting that attitudes toward the job itself may be a central concern in committing to one's occupation. Second, consistent with previous work, OC and organizational commitment were positively related. This relation was found to be moderated by the compatibility of the profession and the employing organization. Third, OC was positively related to job performance and had an indirect effect on organizational turnover intention through occupational turnover intention. This latter effect suggests that understanding of organizational turnover can be enhanced by incorporating occupation-related variables into turnover models. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task difficulty, cardiovascular response, and the magnitude of goal valence.

Studied the impact of expected task difficulty on anticipatory cardiovascular (CV) responsiveness and the anticipatory reactivity under difficult task conditions in 64 female undergraduates. Ss performed an easy, moderately difficult, or extremely difficult memory task to earn a small incentive for good performance. CV and subjective measures were taken immediately prior to task performance. Both systolic blood pressure (SBP) responses and ratings of goal attractiveness were nonmonotonically related to expected task difficulty, with the most pronounced SBP elevations and highest goal attractiveness in the moderately difficult task condition. CV response measures revealed a strong positive association between systolic and diastolic pressure (but not heart rate) change in the easy condition, positive relationships among measures in the moderately difficult condition, and no significant correlations in the extremely difficult condition. Subjective measures of arousal were not affected by task difficulty. Principal findings are discussed in terms of J. W. Brehm's theory that motivation varies as a nonmonotonic function of the difficulty of goal attainment. Intercorrelations among CV response variables are considered in terms of their possible indication of the mechanisms underlying blood pressure changes associated with variations in motivation. (35 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal Orientation: Effects on Backing Up Behavior, Performance, Efficacy, and Commitment in Teams.

The author examined the predictive validity of goal orientation in teams on both team process and outcome variables. Results indicate that when mean goal orientation scores were used as a way of describing team members' inputs, learning orientation was related to backing up behavior, efficacy, and commitment. The relationships between performance orientation and efficacy and commitment, however, were more complex and were clarified when task performance was also taken into account. Performance orientation had a negative effect on efficacy when task performance was low and a positive effect on commitment when task performance was high. The implications of these findings for theory and research on goal orientation in teams and team staffing are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Construct of Work Commitment: Testing an Integrative Framework.

This study meta-analytically examined extensive literature associated with work commitment. The primary purposes were to (a) cumulate correlations among dimensions of work commitment to see which were intercorrelated and (b) determine impact of work commitment dimensions and subdimensions on specific outcome variables (job satisfaction, job performance, turnover intentions, and turnover). Results were cumulated across 997 articles. The positive manifold of correlations suggests the presence of a common psychological construct underlying different commitment forms, with the exception of calculative, continuance, and union commitment. Most of the 94 meta-analyzed correlations were small, suggesting that concept redundancy is not a major concern. Meta-analyses of the correlations of 24 commitment constructs with 4 outcome variables suggest that different commitment forms have similar patterns of correlations with outcome variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between goal attributes and the academic achievement of Southeast Asian adolescent refugees.

Examined the relationship among goals, acculturation (ACC), and academic achievement (AAC) for a group of 39 Southeast Asian adolescent refugees enrolled in a bilingual vocational education program at a high school. Students expressed career, work, and family goals that were positive in affect and individual in nature. Low goal instability and high goal commitment were significantly related to higher GPA and goal attainment. Low goal instability was also related to better study skills. ACC was not significantly related to AAC variables. Although the relationship between goal attributes and AAC was supported for these Ss, cultural factors limited the authors' ability to interpret the results. A discussion of cross-cultural issues that are relevant for future research with Southeast Asian refugees is provided. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Coping with moral commitment to long-distance dating relationships.

The uncertainty of relationship transitions should elicit more elaborate cognitive processing about one's relationship. As a result, reports of a type of relationship commitment distinctive from satisfaction—moral commitment—might be obtained from those about to begin long distance relationships. Students assessed prior to the academic year reported 2 types of commitment: moral and enthusiastic. Moral commitment was highly correlated with the meaning of the relationship and investment in the relationship, whereas enthusiastic commitment was highly correlated with satisfaction. Moral (but not enthusiastic) commitment predicted the subsequent survival of the relationship. Moral commitment also predicted appraisals of increased investment in and meaning of the relationship by the end of the term. Finally, moral commitment predicted negative affect and illness symptoms for those whose relationships ended. For people remaining in relationships, a new construct of moral burden emerged at Time 2. Burden was related to relationship dissatisfaction and stress and predicted the initiation of a subsequent breakup. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An empirical examination of the antecedents of commitment to difficult goals.

Goal commitment has been given a critical role in goal-setting theory, yet the factors associated with commitment to difficult goals have not often been studied. This study examined possible antecedents of commitment to difficult goals. Two sets of such variables were examined: situational (goal publicness and goal origin) and personal (need for achievement and locus of control) factors. Both sets of variables accounted for significant amounts of variance in goal commitment among 190 college students with academic goals. A Person?×?Situation interaction also accounted for a significant increment of variance. Specifically, commitment to difficult goals was higher when (a) goals were made public rather than private, (b) when locus of control was internal, and (c) when subjects were high in need for achievement, especially when goals were self-set as opposed to assigned. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of social cognitive and ethnic variables on academic goals of underrepresented students in science and engineering: A multiple-groups analysis.

In this study we investigated the academic interests and goals of 223 African American, Latino/a, Southeast Asian, and Native American undergraduate students in 2 groups: biological science (BIO) and engineering (ENG) majors. Using social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994), we examined the relationships of social cognitive variables (math/science academic self-efficacy, math/science outcome expectations)—as well as the influence of ethnic variables (ethnic identity, other-group orientation) and perceptions of campus climate—to students’ math/science interests and goal commitment to earn a BIO/ENG degree. Path analysis revealed that the hypothesized model provided good overall fit to the data, revealing significant relationships between outcome expectations and interests and between outcome expectations and goals. Paths from academic self-efficacy to BIO/ENG goals and from interests to BIO/ENG goals varied for students in engineering and the biological sciences. For both groups, other-group orientation was positively related to self-efficacy, and support was found for an efficacy-mediated relationship between perceived campus climate and goals. Theoretical and practical implications of the study’s findings are considered as well as future research directions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dynamics of self-regulation: How (un)accomplished goal actions affect motivation.

Two factors increase the motivation to adhere to a goal: goal commitment and lack of goal progress. When people ask about commitment, focusing on what they have accomplished (to date) signals to them high commitment and increases motivation. Conversely, when commitment is certain and people ask about goal progress, focusing on what they have yet to accomplish (to go) signals to them lack of progress and increases motivation. Accordingly, 4 studies show that emphasizing to-date information increases goal adherence when commitment is uncertain--that is, when participants study for a relatively unimportant exam, consume luxuries, fulfill a desire, and make first-time contributions to a charity. Conversely, emphasizing to-go information increases goal adherence when commitment is certain--that is, when participants study for an important exam, consume necessities, fulfill a need, and make repeated contributions to a charity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expectancy–value relationships of shame reactions and shame resiliency.

This study investigated expectancy–value predictors for experiencing shame from test feedback and the possible consequences of these shame reactions. Those who experienced shame included a broader range of students than previously thought, including some high achievers who had high self-perceptions of competence. Main expectancy–value predictors of shame were lower self-efficacy ratings and higher intrinsic as well as extrinsic goal orientations. Also, although having important future goals for which the course had instrumental value was not predictive of inducing shame, such goals appeared to exert influence on whether a person would be resilient from a shame reaction with increased motivation, motivated behavior, and higher academic exam scores. If students believe they have the capabilities and are committed to a clear future goal for which the course grade or course information is relevant, then a shame reaction may be a warning signal that current actions are not in line with future goal attainment. For these students, a personal evaluation of goal commitment may result in increased motivated behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unlocking the black box: Exploring the link between high-performance work systems and performance.

With a growing body of literature linking systems of high-performance work practices to organizational performance outcomes, recent research has pushed for examinations of the underlying mechanisms that enable this connection. In this study, based on a large sample of Welsh public-sector employees, we explored the role of several individual-level attitudinal factors—job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological empowerment—as well as organizational citizenship behaviors that have the potential to provide insights into how human resource systems influence the performance of organizational units. The results support a unit-level path model, such that department-level, high-performance work system utilization is associated with enhanced levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and psychological empowerment. In turn, these attitudinal variables were found to be positively linked to enhanced organizational citizenship behaviors, which are further related to a second-order construct measuring departmental performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulation of goal-setting: Turning free fantasies about the future into binding goals.

Fantasy realization theory states that when people contrast their fantasies about a desired future with reflections on present reality, a necessity to act is induced that leads to the activation and use of relevant expectations. Strong goal commitment arises in light of favorable expectations, and weak goal commitment arises in light of unfavorable expectations. To the contrary, when people only fantasize about a desired future or only reflect on present reality, expectancy-independent moderate goal commitment emerges. Four experiments pertaining to various life domains supported these hypotheses. Strength of goal commitment was assessed in cognitive (e.g., making plans), affective (e.g., felt attachment), and behavioral terms (e.g., effort expenditure, quality of performance). Implications for theories on goal setting and goal striving are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of participatively set and assigned goals in the reduction of alcohol use.

The effects of setting goals on goal commitment, self-efficacy for goal achievement, and goal achievement in the context of an alcohol use intervention were examined using an experimental design in which participants were randomized to participatively set goals, assigned goals, and no goal conditions. One hundred and twenty-six heavy-drinking college students received a single cognitive-behavioral assessment/intervention session and completed measures of goal commitment, self-efficacy for goal achievement, and alcohol use. Results were consistent with, and expanded upon, previous research by demonstrating that having a goal for limiting alcohol consumption was predictive of lower quantity and frequency of alcohol use relative to not having a goal. Participation in goal setting yielded greater goal commitment and self-efficacy for goal achievement than assigned goals, but did not result in significantly greater reductions in alcohol use relative to assigned goals. Goal commitment and self-efficacy explained unique variance in the prediction of alcohol use at follow-up. Findings support the importance of goal setting in alcohol interventions and suggest areas for further research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)