Who are the high achievers at work? Perceived motivational climate, goal orientation profiles, and work performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to respond to the call for research on goal orientation (mastery and performance orientation) profiles in work contexts. Among 8,282 engineers and technologists, Latent profile analyses indicated that four different goal orientation profiles existed – primarily mastery oriented, indifferent, moderate multiple goals, and success oriented. Both success oriented employees and employees who are primarily mastery oriented indicated the highest individual work performance. Further, mastery and performance climates were found to be relevant antecedents of employees’ goal orientation profiles. Supplementary analyses suggested that a primarily mastery oriented profile seems to be more beneficial for the facilitation of employee well‐being. The practical implications of these findings and directions for future research are presented.

Motivational Climate and Physical Activity: A Multigroup Analysis in Romanian and Spanish University Students

“…Motivation in the practice of physical activity is a concept that has been studied worldwide as it is a fundamental issue nowadays [39,40,41,42,43]. After analyzing the results obtained, an inverse relationship between the task and the ego climate is observed in Spanish students, showing that an increased involvement in the task climate is associated with a decreased involvement in the ego-oriented climate.…”

Psychometric Properties of the Spanish Version of the Goal Orientation Scales in Ecuadorian Undergraduate Students

“…From the classical theory perspective, this finding implies the acceptance of the 2 × 2 model as a basic goal orientation model (Elliot and McGregor, 2001;Harackiewicz and Linnenbrink, 2005). Simultaneously, this measure can be crucial for future undergraduate students' employability in terms of work performance (Nerstad et al, 2018). However, from the IRT perspective, a deeper analysis of the items is necessary to improve measurement precision of the instrument with respect Ecuadorian students' range of goal orientations.…”

Relationship between Personality and Learning Goal Orientation Preceding the First Employment

“…[24] were looking at the role of goal orientation on work engagement and creativity and found that learning goal orientation strengthened, and performance goal orientation weakened, the links between proactive management and engagement, and between engagement and creativity. Similarly, research on goal orientation (both learning and performance orientation) profiles in work contexts, conducted by Nerstad, Richardsen, and Roberts [25] on a big sample of more than 8200 engineers and technologists, noted that learning and performance climates are relevant antecedents of employees' goal orientation profiles.…”