Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents of Personal Goal Level and of the Antecedents and Consequences of Goal Commitment

Abstract

Meta-analyses were conducted to examine the antecedents of personal goal level, and the antecedents and consequences of goal commitment based on 78 goal-setting studies. Meta-analyses of the antecedents of personal goal level indicated that prior performance and ability were significantly related to personal goals whereas knowledge of results had a marginally significant relationship with personal goal level. The relationships of three antecedent variables with goal commitment were found to be statistically significant (i.e., self-efficacy, expectancy of goal attainment, and task difficulty), whereas task complexity had a marginally significant relationship with goal commitment. The results of the meta-analyses on the consequences of goal commitment showed goal commitment to significantly affect goal achievement. A model was developed that integrated the results of the meta-analyses with conceptually derived variables and relationships.

Students' Goal Achievement: Exploring Individual and Situational Factors

“…It is also possible however, that one effect of optimism lies in its positive expectancies. Positive expectancies have been shown to be an important factor in determination to reach a goal (Ingledew et al, 2005;Locke & Latham, 2002;Wofford et al, 1992).…”

“…If a goal is set that is hard to reach, commitment to that goal is necessary to achieve it (Erez & Zidon, 1984;Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck & Alge, 1999;Wofford, Goodwin & Premack, 1992). Goal commitment can be defined as an individual's "intention to extend effort toward goal attainment" (Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck, Wright & DeShon, 2001, p.34).…”

“…Students' commitment to achieving goals has been investigated and support is offered for the impact that goal commitment has on performance in this population (Hollenbeck, Klein, O'Leary & Wright, 1989;Klein & Mulvey, 1995) Probability of success has been found to be an important predictor of goal commitment (Ingledew, Wray, Markland & Hardy, 2005;Locke & Latham, 2002;Wofford et al, 1992); if an individual feels they are likely to reach a goal, the more committed they will be to trying to achieve it. One issue that arises out of this is that whilst expectation of success predicts goal commitment, hard goals, in which likelihood of success is low, create the best performance.…”

Workplace innovation and social innovation: an introduction

“…People tend to set non-challenging, goals in their work tasks when their task self-efficacy is low and generally pursue challenging, difficult goals when their task self-efficacy is high (Bandura, 1986;Wofford et al, 1992). Individuals who have low self-efficacy beliefs may perceive high job autonomy as a threat because they believe they lack the capacity to fulfil their work.…”

Modeling the Direct and Indirect Determinants of Different Types of Individual Job Performance

“…Examining the correlations in Table 24, we noticed that knowledge and goal commitment were correlated .40 and considered the likelihood that knowledge is causally related to goal commitment. In a review of the antecedents of goal setting, Wofford, Goodwin and Premack (1992) found that the major determinants of goal level were past performance and ability. It follows that those with greater knowledge relevant to adapting would be more likely to set goals relevant to adaptive performance and be committed to them.…”