The effects of proximal and distal goals on performance on a moderately complex task

✍ Scribed by Gary P. Latham; Gerard H. Seijts

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 101 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0894-3796
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1379(199907)20:4<421::aid-job896>3.0.co;2-#

✦ Synopsis

The eect of a proximal plus a distal goal was investigated relative to setting only a distal goal or urging participants to do their best. Young adults (N 39) were paid on a piece rate basis to make toys. An analysis of variance revealed that the amount of money earned by the participants who were urged to do your best' was signi®cantly greater than the amount of money earned by the participants who were assigned a distal goal. However, the amount of money earned by the participants who were assigned proximal goals, in addition to a distal goal, was signi®cantly greater than the amount of money earned by the participants in the do your best' condition. The correlation between perceived self-ecacy and the amount of money earned was 0.45 (p 5 0.01). Perceived self-ecacy signi®cantly increased only for those participants in the proximal plus distal goal condition. Proximal goals, through self-ecacy and performance feedback, appear to have focused attention on task appropriate strategies. The results suggest an informational explanation of proximal goals as opposed to a motivational one through goal commitment. Implications of these ®ndings for mentoring and training are discussed.