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

Article Abstract:

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. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Psychological research

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Affective and continuance commitment to the organization: evaluation of measures and analysis of concurrent and time-lagged relations

Article Abstract:

The factor structure of the Affective and Continuance Commitment Scales (ACS and CCS; Meyer & Allen, 1984), as well as the causal links between affective and continuance commitment, were examined. Data were obtained from 2 employee samples on a single occasion and from a sample of new employees on 3 occasions during their first year of employment. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that (a) the ACS and CCS measure different constructs and (b) the CCS can be divided into 2 highly related subscales reflecting costs associated with leaving the organization (lack of alternatives and personal sacrifice). Tests of nonrecursive causal models with cross-sectional data revealed that (a) affective commitment had a negative effect on the alternatives component of continuance commitment in all samples and (b) both components of continuance commitment had a positive effect on affective commitment for established employees. Analyses of the longitudinal data revealed only a weak, negative, time-lagged effect of the alternatives component on affective commitment. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Organizational research, Psychometrics, Commitment (Psychology)

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The effects of goal difficulty on physiological arousal, cognition, and task performance

Article Abstract:

Two laboratory experiments with 117 undergraduate students were conducted to examine (a) the effect of assigned goal difficulty on arousal (self-report and heart rate), cognition (perceived norm, self-efficacy strength, and personal goal), and behavioral (task performance) measures and (b) the role of heart rate as a mediator of the goal-difficulty-performance relation. All Ss performed a task requiring cognitive and physical responses. Results of both experiments demonstrated that assigned goal difficulty affected heart rate, cognition, and task performance and the heart-rate change was positively related to the cognitive and behavioral measures. Regression analyses suggested that a cognitive-affective mechanism may mediate the goal-difficulty-performance relation. Discussion is focused on the theoretical and practical implications of integrating an arousal concept within goal-setting theory. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Cognition, Arousal (Physiology), Arousal (Psychophysiology)

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