The role of personal work goals in newcomers' job satisfaction and organizational commitment: A longitudinal analysis.

This study examined the importance of 3 characteristics of personal work goals (i.e., commitment, attainability, and progress) in accounting for changes in newcomers' affective job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment) during the 1st months of employment. Twenty weeks after organizational entry, 81 newcomers provided a list of their personal work goals. Goal attributes and job attitudes were assessed at 3 testing periods covering 8 months. Goal commitment was found to moderate the extent to which differences in the attainability of personal goals at the workplace accounted for changes in job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Goal progress mediated the interactive effect of goal commitment and attainability on newcomers' job attitudes. Findings are discussed with respect to their relevance for proactive approaches to organizational socialization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personal goals and emotional well-being: the moderating role of motive dispositions

Two studies examined the importance of motive dispositions in determining the extent to which the pursuit of personal goals accounts for interindividual differences in emotional well-being. Within the domains of agency and communion, motives were assessed with a picture-story test, whereas self-report measures were used to assess goal attributes. Study 1 found that progress toward motive-congruent goals, in contrast to progress toward motive-incongruent goals, accounted for students' daily experiences of emotional well-being. Study 2 found that the combination of high commitment to and high attainability of motive-congruent goals predicted an increase in students' emotional well-being over 1 semester. In contrast, high commitment to motive-incongruent goals predicted a decline in emotional well-being. Results are discussed with reference to a 2-system approach to human motivation.     

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)     

Goal conflicts, attainment of new goals, and well-being among managers.

Researchers widely understand that conflicts among goals inhibit the attainment of these goals. However, this notion comes close to tautological reasoning. To avert this problem, this study examined whether preexisting goal conflict also inhibits success in newly set goals. Using the context of management training, in which managers collectively set new goals, the study variables were assessed at 3 testing periods covering 5 months. Results indicate that goal conflicts that persevere over time were associated with inhibited attainment of new goals but not with decreased subjective well-being (SWB). Goal attainment, however, was positively related to SWB. Interactions of residual changes in goal conflict and goal attainment were associated with positive affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Daily goals, life goals, and worst fears: means, ends, and subjective well-being

This study addressed the relations among personal strivings (daily goals) and future life goals and worst fears. Eighty undergraduate participants (62 women, 18 men) listed their daily goals, their ultimate life goals, and their worst fears, and completed questionnaire measures of subjective well-being. Daily goals were content-analyzed for relevance to attaining life goals or avoiding worst fears. Daily goals that were instrumental to life goals or that avoided worst fears were rated as more important but also more difficult by participants. Working on daily goals avoiding one's worst fears was negatively related to measures of subjective well-being, controlling for daily goal progress, difficulty, ambivalence, and importance. Working on daily goals that were instrumental to one's life goals only weakly predicted well-being. The avoidance of worst fears interacted with daily goal appraisals such that individuals who experienced little progress at daily goals that served to avoid their "worst case scenario" experienced the lowest levels of subjective well-being. In addition, progress at daily goals that were relevant to accomplishing one's life goals was significantly more strongly related to subjective well-being than progress at daily goals that were unrelated to one's life goals. Results indicate that daily goals are used to enact life goals and avoid worst fears and that these means--end relations have implications for well-being.     

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)     

Goal instability and adjustment to physical disability.

Few studies have examined psychoanalytic constructs in the adjustment of individuals who incur physical disability. According to H. Kohut (1977), optimal adjustment during life transitions is contingent on the individual's capacity for maintaining and pursuing meaningful goals, which reflects a stable sense of self. A series of studies was conducted to determine if goal instability would predict adjustment and health following disability. Goal instability was predictive at depressive behavior and acceptance of disability among individuals with recent-onset disability. Goal instability predicted subjective well-being 1 year later. Among community residents with a disability, goal instability was associated with life satisfaction; this relationship was not mediated by perceived stigma or community mobility. These findings indicate that a flexible yet durable goal orientation is associated with optimal psychological adjustment among individuals with a physical disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal adjustment capacities, coping, and subjective well-being: The sample case of caregiving for a family member with mental illness.

This study examined the associations between goal adjustment capacities, coping, and indicators of subjective well-being in 2 waves of data from individuals who provide care for a family member with mental illness. We hypothesized that goal adjustment capacities would predict higher levels of subjective well-being by facilitating coping with caregiving stress. Results showed that goal disengagement was associated with effective care-specific coping (e.g., less self-blame and substance use). Goal reengagement was also associated with effective care-specific coping (e.g., positive reframing), but at the same time it predicted the use of less effective strategies (e.g., venting and self-distraction). Moreover, goal disengagement predicted lower levels of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms and buffered the longitudinal effect of caregiver burden on increases in depressive symptoms. Goal reengagement, by contrast, predicted higher levels of caregiver burden and purpose in life and buffered the cross-sectional association between caregiver burden and depressive symptoms. Finally, effective (and less useful) care-specific coping statistically explained the adaptive (and maladaptive) effects of goal adjustment capacities on participants' well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Linking goal progress to subjective well-being at work: The moderating role of goal-related self-efficacy and attainability.

Although goal progress is often hypothesized to be positively linked to well-being, existing research points to an inconsistent relationship and suggests that potential moderators need to be examined. This longitudinal study investigated whether 2 aspects of goal cognition—goal attainability and self-efficacy—influence the relationship between goal progress and well-being (viz., job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion) in a sample of 172 nurses. Work goal progress was not directly associated with well-being. Rather, the link between goal progress and well-being was moderated by goal cognition. Individuals who started off with unfavorable goal cognitions but who managed to achieve goal progress reported an increase in well-being, compared with those who had favorable goal cognitions and similar rates of progress. Progress appears to have compensated for low initial goal cognition in the prediction of well-being, and high initial goal cognition appears to have undermined this predictive relationship. Also, goal progress was associated with an increase in self-efficacy and goal attainability from Time 1 to Time 2. Results are discussed in relation to goal theories and the concept of self-correcting goal cycles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Avoidance achievement motivation: a personal goals analysis

The present research investigated one antecedent and various consequences of pursuing avoidance personal achievement goals over the course of a semester. The authors assessed participants' achievement-relevant goals using the newly devised Achievement Goals Questionnaire. The motive to avoid failure, assessed with self-report and projective measures, was established as an antecedent of avoidance goal pursuit. Avoidance regulation was shown to have deleterious consequences for a host of achievement-relevant and general well-being outcomes at the end of the semester, including longitudinal change in subjective well-being. Perceived competence was validated as a mediator of the direct relationships observed. The results highlight the need to attend to avoidance, as well as approach, forms of self-regulation and the need to consider both motive disposition and goal constructs in accounting for competence-relevant behavior.     

The effects of goal setting and group size on performance in a social dilemma.

Examined the effect of self-set personal and assigned group goal setting on an individual's behavior in 3- and 7-person groups confronted with a social dilemma. 274 Ss earned between $1.82 and $4.94 by investing money in either a personal account or a group account. Self-set personal goals that were compatible with an assigned group goal led to higher group performance than self-set incompatibly high ("greedy") personal goals. Collective-efficacy in making money, outcome expectancies that cooperation with others leads to the attainment of the group's goal, and group goal commitment correlated positively with group performance. Ss in 7-person groups (N?=?28) were less cooperative than those in 3-person groups (N?=?26). Ss in 7-person groups had lower collective-efficacy, lower outcome expectancies, and lower commitment to the group goal than did Ss in 3-person groups. Furthermore, individual performance in 7-person groups was significantly lower than individual performance in 3-person groups. A social dilemma appears to be a boundary condition for the normally positive effect of group goal setting on group performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Dilemma of Performance-Approach Goals: The Use of Multiple Goal Contexts to Promote Students' Motivation and Learning.

The study examines the effects of a quasi-experimental classroom goal condition (mastery, performance-approach, combined mastery/performance-approach) and entering personal goal orientations on motivation, emotional well-being, help seeking, cognitive engagement, and achievement for 237 upper elementary students during a 5-week math unit emphasizing small groups. The classroom goal condition had a significant effect on help seeking and achievement, with the combined condition showing the most beneficial pattern. Personal mastery goals were beneficial for 11 of 12 outcomes including achievement; personal performance-approach goals were detrimental for achievement and test anxiety and unrelated to the remaining outcomes. The effect of the classroom goal condition did not vary on the basis of entering personal goal orientations. Implications for the current achievement goal theory debate regarding multiple goals are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The moderating role of goal commitment on the goal difficulty–performance relationship: A meta-analytic review and critical reanalysis.

Despite the nearly unanimous view that goal commitment is a vital component of goal setting, few studies have empirically assessed its hypothesized role as a moderator of the goal–performance relationship. In addition, those studies that have examined the moderating effects of goal commitment have presented inconsistent conclusions. To clarify this situation, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine the overall strength of the moderating effect of goal commitment. The results indicated that the Goal Difficulty X Goal Commitment effect accounted for less than 3% of the variance in task performance. Additionally, the type of goal commitment measure used (self-report vs. discrepancy) was a significant moderator of this relationship. Measurement issues and directions for future conceptualizations of the goal commitment construct are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time counts: Future time perspective, goals, and social relationships.

On the basis of postulates derived from socioemotional selectivity theory, the authors explored the extent to which future time perspective (FTP) is related to social motivation, and to the composition and perceived quality of personal networks. Four hundred eighty German participants with ages ranging from 20 to 90 yrs took part in the study. In 2 card-sort tasks, participants indicated their partner preference and goal priority. Participants also completed questionnaires on personal networks and social satisfaction. Older people, as a group, perceived their future time as more limited than younger people. Individuals who perceived future time as being limited prioritized emotionally meaningful goals, whereas individuals who perceived their futures as open-ended prioritized instrumental or knowledge-related goals. Priority of goal domains was found to be differently associated with the size, composition, and perceived quality of personal networks depending on FTP. Prioritizing emotion-regulatory goals was associated with greater social satisfaction and less perceived strain with others when participants perceived their future as limited. Findings underscore the importance of FTP in the self-regulation of social relationships and the subjective experience associated with them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Engagement scolaire, bien-être personnel et autodétermination chez des étudiants à l’université.

This article describes a study that was conducted with a sample of 266 university students and which was guided by two objectives: (a) applying a three-dimensional model of commitment to the academic area, while therein including new motivational considerations and, (b) exploring the nature of the psychological mechanisms by which academic commitment and self-determination interact to predict students’ personal well-being. Exploratory factor analyses allowed the validation of a first version of the Academic Commitment Scale. Correlational and multiple regression analyses permitted the corroboration of the hypothesis pertaining to the positive relationship between academic commitment and personal well-being amongst students. Exploratory and confirmatory analyses led to the corroboration of the hypothesis pertaining to the mediating role of academic commitment in the association between students’ self-determination and personal well-being. The worth of using academic commitment, self-determination, and personal well-being as main targets of investigation while trying to elaborate a model of optimal academic functioning is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Eudaimonic growth: Narrative growth goals predict increases in ego development and subjective well-being 3 years later.

We examine (a) the normative course of eudaimonic well-being in emerging adulthood and (b) whether people's narratives of major life goals might prospectively predict eudaimonic growth 3 years later. We define eudaimonic growth as longitudinal increases in eudaimonic well-being, which we define as the combination of psychosocial maturity and subjective well-being (SWB). College freshmen and seniors took measures of ego development (ED; to assess maturity; Loevinger, 1976) and SWB at Time 1 (T1) and again 3 years later (Time 2). ED levels increased longitudinally across that time for men and T1 freshmen, but SWB levels did not change. Participants also wrote narratives of 2 major life goals at T1 that were coded for an explicit emphasis on specific kinds of personal growth. Participants' intellectual-growth goals (especially agentic ones) predicted increases in ED 3 years later, whereas participants' socioemotional-growth goals (especially communal ones) predicted increases in SWB 3 years later. These findings were independent of the effects of Big Five personality traits—notably conscientiousness, which on its own predicted increases in SWB. We discuss (a) emerging adulthood as the last stop for normative eudaimonic growth in modern society and (b) empirical and theoretical issues surrounding the relations among narrative identity, life planning, dispositional traits, eudaimonia, and 2 paths of personal growth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal setting and task performance: 1969–1980.

Results from a review of laboratory and field studies on the effects of goal setting on performance show that in 90% of the studies, specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy goals, "do your best" goals, or no goals. Goals affect performance by directing attention, mobilizing effort, increasing persistence, and motivating strategy development. Goal setting is most likely to improve task performance when the goals are specific and sufficiently challenging, Ss have sufficient ability (and ability differences are controlled), feedback is provided to show progress in relation to the goal, rewards such as money are given for goal attainment, the experimenter or manager is supportive, and assigned goals are accepted by the individual. No reliable individual differences have emerged in goal-setting studies, probably because the goals were typically assigned rather than self-set. Need for achievement and self-esteem may be the most promising individual difference variables. (3? p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

College student drinking and meaning in the pursuit of life goals.

The current study was designed to examine the association between risky alcohol use and life goals among college students. Introductory psychology students completed a questionnaire that included measures of typical life goals and alcohol use behavior. Students listed their 5 most typical life goals and rated them each on a series of dimensions from which 2 factors were derived (i.e., Goal Meaning, Goal Efficacy). Hierarchical regression analyses showed that the lower levels of goal meaning were associated with more heavy episodic use of alcohol and alcohol-related negative consequences. Results are consistent with motivational models of drinking that depict alcohol use as a function of satisfaction from other life goals. Findings support the importance of understanding college student drinking within the broader context of life goal appraisal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resources, personal strivings, and subjective well-being: A nomothetic and idiographic approach.

The covariation of resources such as money, family support, social skills, and intelligence with subjective well-being (SWB) was assessed in 195 college students. Informant ratings provided an index of resources. Self-reports, daily experience sampling, and informant reports were used to measure SWB. The authors concluded that resources taken together are moderately strong predictors of SWB. This conclusion, however, was qualified by the fact that life satisfaction was more closely related to resources than was affective well-being and that social and personal resources were in general more strongly related to SWB than were material resources. The findings also supported the hypothesis that resources correlate more strongly with SWB when they are relevant to an individual's idiographic personal strivings. A tendency was found for people to choose personal strivings for which they have relevant resources, and the degree of congruence of individuals' goals with resources was predictive of SWB. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Goal continuity as a mediator of early retirement adjustment: Testing a multidimensional model.

From a self-psychology perspective, adaptation to changes in life depends on the ability to maintain stable and meaningful life goals and purpose, or goal continuity. Goal continuity was hypothesized to be a mediator of early retirement adjustment (RA), being a variable between personal and social resources and life adjustment. A multidimensional model of RA was tested with self-report and interviewer indexes from a sample of 157 voluntary early retirees. Structural relations modeling indicated that social support did not directly influence adjustment but was associated with increases in goal continuity, which was linked to increases in leisure quality and life satisfaction. Implications for further research and for the role of personality in mediating midlife and early RA are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)