A POTENTIAL EXPLANATION FOR NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF GOAL SETTING ON INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

SUSAN KAY CORNELL, Purdue University

Abstract

Recently, studies on goal setting have been concerned with the effects of goals on intrinsic motivation as well as on performance. Existing evidence suggests goals, while improving performance, have detrimental effects on intrinsic motivation. This study suggested an explanation for the finding of such negative effects. The method used here involved operationalizing a goal as behavioral completion. This is what was meant by a "goal" as opposed to typical goals used in goal setting research which include additional incentives for striving for the goal. Such additional incentives used in this research were comparison to peers and expectation of evaluation by the experimenter. It was expected that persons would be more intrinsically motivated under a goal condition of behavioral completion than under "goal" conditions of either peer comparison or experimenter evaluation. Such expectations however, were not supported. Analyses of variance were conducted to test the predictions involving goal setting and intrisic motivation. No differences on either a behavioral or a questionnaire measure of intrinsic motivation were found among any of the conditions investigated. Potential explanations for the unsupported hypotheses were offered. Additional ideas for this line of research were also presented.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Occupational psychology

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