Influence of information, choice and task complexity upon goal acceptance, performance, and personal goals.

Tested the hypothesis that information about a goal and/or task, choice in setting a strategy to achieve a goal, and task complexity interact to influence goal acceptance, personal goals, and performance. A laboratory experiment with 96 college students working on a class-scheduling task was used to test the hypothesis. The task consisted of producing mock class schedules consisting of 5 nonredundant classes. The Ss were assigned to either high-information, choice manipulation, or task-complexity conditions. Ss were administered a questionnaire assessing goal acceptance, personal goals, and performance prior to and on completion of the task. Results of 3-way ANOVA conducted on measures of goal acceptance, personal goals, and performance supported the hypotheses that choice in goal-setting and the provision of information interact as do information and task complexity. A 2nd study conducted to generalize these findings also supported the hypotheses. In the 2nd study, 40 animal caregivers (average age 28 yrs) were participants in a replication of the laboratory experiment with task complexity as a repeated-measures factor. Findings are discussed as a means of expanding the position of participation within the goal-setting model. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes.

The authors provide an analytic framework for studying the joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes. This framework encompasses 3 models (the direct effect model, indirect effect model, and interaction effect model), each of which addresses a different aspect of the joint influence of the 2 goal levels. These 3 models were examined together with a sample of 1,578 Japanese junior high and high school students from 47 classrooms. Results provided support for each of the 3 models: Classroom goal structures were not only direct, but also indirect predictors of intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept, and some cross-level interactions between personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures were observed (indicating both goal match and goal mismatch effects). A call is made for more research that takes into consideration achievement goals at both personal and structural levels of representation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of goals and feedback on performance in groups.

In the first study, 26 undergraduate pairs and 52 individuals worked on a perceptual speed task for 20 min to win prizes based on performance. The pairs set group goals and individual goals to be attained, whereas the individuals set only individual goals. Despite the equal levels of individual goals set, goal acceptance and performance were significantly higher for the pairs than for the individuals. A stepwise hierarchical regression analysis supported the contributions of goal acceptance and group goals to performance. In the second study, 50 undergraduate pairs were assigned a goal to be attained as teams on a perceptual speed task lasting 15 min. Group and individual task feedback, given after 7? min of work, significantly improved performance only for those subjects who were below target for either group or individual feedback, yielding interaction effects on performance. The implications of the findings for group goal setting, social loafing, and organizational effectiveness are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of ability, assigned goals, and normative information on personal goals and performance: A challenge to the goal attainability assumption.

58 undergraduates were assigned randomly to 1 of 6 experimental conditions representing 2 levels of goal difficulty (easy vs very hard) and 3 levels of normative information, indicating that the goal had been achieved by 95, 50, or 5% of students previously tested. Ss then set their own performance goals for a creativity task, which they performed over 10 repeated trials. Following Trial 10, Ss were allowed to choose to continue working on from 0 to 5 more trials. As hypothesized, personal performance goals were strongly influenced by assigned goals, but ability, as measured by pretest performance, had no relation to personal goals. Normative information did not influence personal goals directly but did, unexpectedly, interact with assigned goals. Both assigned goals and ability had significant and independent effects on performance, as hypothesized. The results of a path analysis revealed that assigned goals influenced performance both indirectly, through their influence on personal goals, and directly, due to the fact that most Ss assigned very difficult goals set personal performance goals at or above their ability ceiling. Ss assigned goals beyond their immediate reach did not evidence any decrement in intrinsic motivation when compared with those assigned easier goals. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of goal acceptance on the relationship of goal difficulty to performance.

Tested the hypotheses that goal acceptance moderates the relationship of goal difficulty to task performance as follows: (a) The relationship is positive and linear for accepted goals; (b) it is negative and linear if the goal is rejected; and thus, (c) slope reversal from positively to negatively linear relationships is associated with transition from positive to negative values of goal acceptance. The experiment was a within-S design, allowing for high variance in acceptance, with technicians and engineers (21–50 yrs of age) divided at random into a 2-phase experimental condition (n?=?104) with specific goal difficulty gradually increasing from Trial 1 to 7 and a control group (n?=?36) with the general instructions to "do your best." Instructions for Phase 2 differed from Phase 1 in that Ss were instructed to reassess their acceptance of difficult goals. The task consisted of determining, within 2-min trials, how many digits or letters in a row were the same as the circled one to the left of each row. Results support the hypotheses. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assessment of personal goal hierarchies.

Developed a method for measuring goal heirarchies using an in-depth interview procedure with 25 male college seniors and 28 male blue-collar workers (aged 55–62 yrs). Ss were asked to describe (1) what they wanted out of life, (2) their daily activities, and (3) their goals in 6 domains of life: family, work and school, social life, leisure, personal growth, material, and other. A coding system was then used for constructing an Adult Intentional and Motivational Systems Chart for each Ss, using dimensions including life domain, level of generality, and means–end connections. Results indicate that people are aware of personal goals and satisfactions that guide their behavior. Evidence of validity and reliability suggest the continued use of the chart for research on self-direction and adult development as well as intervention efforts. Also, Ss who viewed their charts considered them to be accurate. (45 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of group feedback, goal setting, and incentives on organizational productivity.

Productivity research has focused on simple jobs with the individual as the unit of analysis. Most jobs are more complex and, because of the interdependencies in the work, require group-level interventions and more complex measures of performance or productivity. This research presents a new method of measuring productivity, the Productivity Measurement and Enhancement System (ProMES), and uses measures from this approach as a foundation for group-based feedback, goal setting, and incentives. The experimental design consisted of a baseline period of 8 to 9 months, followed by a 5-month period of feedback based on the ProMES. Goal setting was then added to feedback for 5 months. Finally, incentives in the form of time off from work were added to feedback and goal setting for another 5 months. Results indicated that group-level feedback increased productivity an average of 50% over baseline, group goal setting increased productivity 75% over baseline, and group incentives increased productivity 76% over baseline. Control group data showed no or only a slight increase in productivity over the same period, and level of personnel either stayed the same or decreased. In addition, work attitudes such as job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and morale were as good or better following the interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does insecurity breed acceptance? Effects of trait and situational insecurity on acceptance of positive and negative diagnostic feedback.

Two experiments tested whether high as compared to low insecurity leads to greater acceptance of diagnostic feedback. Exp I demonstrated that 120 female undergraduates who were high as compared to low on the trait of insecurity (determined by the Security-Insecurity Inventory) were more acceptant of feedback. Exp II performed a situational manipulation that was designed to produce a high or low state level of insecurity in 56 male and female undergraduates. The situational insecurity variable was manipulated effectively, and the situationally high as compared to situationally low insecure Ss were more acceptant of feedback. In both experiments, the positively worded interpretation was more accepted than the negatively worded interpretation. Possible explanations for the insecurity results are discussed, and implications are drawn for the clinical setting. (36 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interplay between personal goals and classroom goal structures in predicting student outcomes: A multilevel analysis of person-context interactions.

This study examined cross-level interactions between personal goals and classroom goal structures, as well as their additive contributions to predicting math achievement, engagement, interest, effort withdrawal, and avoidance coping, using a sample of 3,943 Grade 5 students from 130 classrooms. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that classroom performance goal structures exacerbated (a) the negative association between personal performance-avoidance goals and engagement and (b) the positive relations of personal performance-avoidance goals to effort withdrawal and avoidance coping. Moreover, both classroom performance goal structures and personal performance-avoidance goals had maladaptive patterns of relations to outcomes at their respective levels of analysis, whereas classroom mastery goal structures and personal mastery goals showed adaptive relations. Our findings underscore the importance of a multilevel interactionist perspective in understanding achievement motivation and making recommendations for educational practices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of two types of failure on anxiety.

To determine the sensitivity of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC) to changes in anxiety in emotionally disturbed children, 36 children (mean age, 11.24 yrs) in residential treatment were administered the STAIC and were randomly assigned (separate assignment for males and females to ensure equal distribution to each group) to either a failure group, a failure plus ego-involving instructions group, or a test-retest control group. The group receiving failure plus ego-involving instructions reported the greatest anxiety increase for both A-State and A-Trait portions of the STAIC. Results are discussed in terms of state-trait-anxiety theory and as indicative of the vulnerability of A-Trait anxiety to stress with emotionally disturbed children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationships among feedback sign, self-efficacy, and acceptance of performance feedback.

The researchers investigated the moderating role of self-efficacy on feedback acceptance. High-self-efficacy individuals who received repeated negative performance feedback exhibited decreased acceptance of the feedback, whereas those with low self-efficacy did not change in their acceptance. Feedback sign and feedback acceptance also had interactive effects on future self-efficacy. Those with high acceptance of positive and negative feedback after repeated trials exhibited self-efficacy levels consistent with that feedback. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Achievement goals and optimal motivation: Testing multiple goal models.

Currently, there is a debate about which types of achievement goals promote optimal motivation. A number of theorists argue for a mastery goal perspective focusing on the adaptive consequences of mastery goals and the maladaptive consequences of performance goals. Others endorse a multiple goal perspective in which both mastery and performance goals can be beneficial. The purpose of the present investigation was to review why this debate has emerged and to offer a critical test of the mastery versus multiple goal perspectives. In Study 1, a correlational approach was used to identify the optimal goals for college participants to adopt for a learning activity. In Study 2, an experimental approach was used to identify the optimal goals to assign for the same activity. Each study revealed benefits of both mastery and performance goals, providing support for the multiple goal perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moderating effects of goal acceptance on the relationship between group cohesiveness and productivity.

Despite the fact that several researchers have suggested that goal acceptance moderates the relationship between group cohesiveness and group productivity, only 1 study (C. N. Greene, 1989) has directly tested this proposition, and virtually no study has examined whether leaders who foster group goal acceptance actually do enhance the relationship between group cohesiveness and group productivity. Two studies were conducted to address these issues. In Study 1, goal acceptance was found to moderate the relationship between group cohesiveness and the quantity of performance of 40 machine crews in a paper mill located in the northeastern United States. In Study 2, the extent to which leaders fostered the acceptance of group goals was found to moderate the relationships between group cohesiveness and quantitative measures of group productivity in 71 insurance agency units located throughout the United States. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Avoidance personal goals and the personality–illness relationship.

Three studies demonstrated that avoidance personal goals are positively related to physical symptom reports. These results were obtained (a) using both longitudinal and retrospective methodologies and (b) controlling for neuroticism and other alternative predictor variables. In 2 of the studies, a process model was validated in which perceived competence and perceived controlledness were shown to mediate the observed relationship between avoidance goals and symptomatology. Specifically, avoidance goals predicted perceived competence and perceived controlledness, and these variables in turn predicted longitudinal and retrospective symptom reports. Ancillary results help clarify the unique roles of neuroticism and avoidance goals as predictors of physical symptomatology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Increasing adolescents' acceptance of long-term personal health behavior.

Assessed the effects of contingency management procedures for increasing children's acceptance of fluoride mouthrinsing. 351 7th and 8th graders received specific action instructions or simple reminders, and all Ss received rewards contingent on compliance. Action instructions had the predicted beneficial impact on compliance among urban lower-income Ss; however, among suburban upper-middle-income Ss, they had a negative effect. The participation level was 66% for urban Ss. Postcard reminders had no effect on compliance in either population. At this time, the primary finding of the series of studies of which this is part is that only contingent rewards seem to have generally beneficial effects on adolescents' long-term personal health behavior; the addition of action instructions seems useful for some populations, but must be approached with caution until the factors affecting the response to such instruction are better understood. (38 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of goal orientation following performance feedback.

This study examined the relationship of goal orientation and performance over a series of 2 challenging performance events. After providing performance feedback on the 1st event, the authors found that the relationship between a learning goal orientation and performance remained positive for the 2nd event, the relationship between a proving goal orientation and performance diminished from a positive to a nonsignificant level, and the relationship between an avoiding goal orientation and performance remained negative. Data analysis also indicated that the relationships between the 3 goal orientation dimensions and the performance event were differentially mediated by goal setting, self-efficacy, and effort. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Perceived performance norm as a mediator in the effect of assigned goal on personal goal and task performance.

We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that assigned goals affect personal goals and task performance, in part, by providing normative information about the task. Normative information inferred from the goal was expected to influence performance expectancy and performance valence, which, in turn, would affect personal goal and, ultimately, performance. In Experiment 1, 60 undergraduate students were assigned performance goals of varying difficulty on a brainstorming task, and measures of perceived norm, performance expectancy, performance valence, personal goal, and task performance were obtained. Results of analyses of covariance and path analysis were generally consistent with the proposed cognitive mediation model. In Experiment 2, information about the performance norm was manipulated independently of goal difficulty for 135 undergraduates working on the same brainstorming task. Results of similar analyses revealed that (a) the effects of goal difficulty observed in Experiment 1 were attenuated by the presentation of normative information and (b) performance norm had significant effects on all of the dependent variables. The findings have implications for the integration of motivation theories and for the use of goal setting as a motivational technique. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Shifting closeness: Interpersonal effects of personal goal progress.

In this article, we examine how the shifting motivational priority of personal goals affects relationship closeness. We hypothesize that people will draw closer to significant others who are instrumental (vs. noninstrumental) for a goal that has not been progressing well—a goal that is thus high in motivational priority. Once the goal has progressed successfully, we predict that people will cease to draw closer to instrumental others. Five studies support these predictions by showing that the impact of goal progress on reduced preference for instrumental others (Experiment 1) depends on the framing of progress as partial attainment (vs. greater commitment, Experiment 2) and the intention to balance across goals (vs. focus on one goal; Experiments 3–4). We find that moving away from instrumental others post progress is functional, in that it allows for drawing closer to those who are instrumental for alternative goals (Experiment 5). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Setting, elaborating, and reflecting on personal goals improves academic performance.

Of students who enroll in 4-year universities, 25% never finish. Precipitating causes of early departure include poor academic progress and lack of clear goals and motivation. In the present study, we investigated whether an intensive, online, written, goal-setting program for struggling students would have positive effects on academic achievement. Students (N = 85) experiencing academic difficulty were recruited to participate in a randomized, controlled intervention. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 intervention groups: Half completed the goal-setting program, and half completed a control task with intervention-quality face validity. After a 4-month period, students who completed the goal-setting intervention displayed significant improvements in academic performance compared with the control group. The goal-setting program thus appears to be a quick, effective, and inexpensive intervention for struggling undergraduate students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)