The role of feedback, casual attributions, and self-efficacy in goal revision.

Full Abstract

An important issue in work motivation is how, when, and why individuals revise their goals up or down over time. In the current study, the authors examine feedback, causal attributions, and self-efficacy in this process. Although self-efficacy has frequently been suggested as a key explanatory variable for goal revision, its role has yet to be directly evaluated. Additionally, although attributions have been shown to influence goal revision following failure, the extent to which attributions influence goal revision following success remains unclear. In the current study, the authors address these issues by experimentally manipulating goal progress via performance feedback and tracking the resulting changes in self-efficacy and goal revision over time. In so doing, the authors also address several interpretive ambiguities present in the existing research. Results support the hypothesized model, finding that performance feedback and attributions interactively influenced self-efficacy, which in turn influenced goal revision. These results suggest that interventions targeting attributions, and self-efficacy more directly, may have meaningful influences on goal setting and pursuit, particularly following feedback.PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

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Author information

Author/s: Tolli, Adam P (AP); Schmidt, Aaron M (AM);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-4301, USA. apt1@uAkron.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: The Journal of applied psychology (J Appl Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-May; vol 93 (issue 3) : pp 692-701

Dates: Created 2008/05/06; Completed 2008/07/29;

PMID: 18457497, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Attitude
Cognition
Feedback
Female

Goals
Humans
Male
Self Concept
Self Efficacy

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