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)