MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING AND AFFECT

176 Pages·2013·3.33 MB·English

MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING AND AFFECT:
EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY
Cecile K. Cho
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
under the Executive Committee of the
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
2007
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UMI Number: 3266556
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Cecile K. Cho
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ABSTRACT
MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING AND AFFECT:
EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY
Cecile K. Cho
People often set low goals in order to avoid future disappointment. This
dissertation questions the assumption that future affect can be managed in this
manner. This strategy can work only if performance is compared to the initially set
goals. We argue that performance potential is instead spontaneously evoked at the
time of performance feedback and used as the benchmark instead of goals. Even when
goals are met, this comparison results in lower levels of satisfaction and greater
disappointment when goals are set low vs. high. When performance falls short of
initial goal, the default comparison appears to be to the initial goal, such that the
resulting contrast exerts a downward pressure on satisfaction for both high and low
goal setters. Contrary to people’s assumption, however, satisfaction with achieving
one’s low goal was not any higher than falling short of one’s high expectation, even
when objectively, the outcome was superior in the former.
This dissertation holds four main theoretical contributions. First and foremost,
it shows that people’s intuition about managing their future satisfaction by
strategically lowering their expectation and goals at present is misguided, if not
counterproductive. Second, it shows that setting low expectation exerts a negative
influence on one’s satisfaction with the outcome, even when the outcome meets the
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expectation. Third, satisfaction with confirmed low expectation exerts a negative
influence on satisfaction even when compared to disconfirmed high expectation.
Lastly, the proposed comparison mechanism, whereby expectation is not recruited as
a benchmark to evaluate the outcome but rather a higher comparison standard is
recruited instead, contributes to the satisfaction literature’s conceptualization of
multiple comparison standards.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1............................................................................................................................V
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1
Organization of the Dissertation............................................................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2.............................................................................................................................4
GOAL SETTING—A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK..............................................4
Goals, a brief summary....................................................................................................................................................................4
Organizational theory of goal setting...............................................................................................4
Assigned vs. self-set goals..................................................................................................................5
Antecedents of setting low goals..........................................................................................................................................6
Antecedents to motivated goal standard—Achievement Motive................................................................7
Expectancy of success.......................................................................................................................8
Regulatory Focus Theory...................................................................................................................9
Anticipated emotion............................................................................................................................................................................9
Affective forecasting........................................................................................................................11
Defensive pessimism and self-handicapping...................................................................................11
CHAPTER 3...........................................................................................................................13
CONSEQUENCES OF MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING ON SATISFACTION.... 13
Satisfaction.............................................................................................................................................................................................14
Expectancy-Disconfirmation Model...................................................................................................................................14
Comparison standards in satisfaction research...............................................................................15
Multiple comparison standards.......................................................................................................17
Single comparison standard—Reference price literature........................................................................25
Counterfactual thinking..................................................................................................................26
Goal vs. Expectations......................................................................................................................21
CHAPTER 4..........................................................................................................................23
EXPERIMENT 1: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF MOTIVATED
GOAL SETTING..................................................................................................................23
Overview...................................................................................................................................................................................................23
Background and hypotheses.....................................................................................................................................................23
Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................25
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Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................25
Results.......................................................................................................................................................................................................27
Antecedents to goal setting.............................................................................................................27
Consequences of goal setting on satisfaction..................................................................................28
Effort................................................................................................................................................30
Perceived goal level.........................................................................................................................31
Goal at T2........................................................................................................................................32
Regression analyses........................................................................................................................................................................33
Satisfaction as mediator to T2-goal................................................................................................33
Discussion.................................................................................................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 5...........................................................................................................................35
EXPERIMENT 2: COUNTERPRODUCTIVE CONSESQUENCE OF LOW­
BALLED EXPECTATION CONTROLLING FOR PERFORMANCE......................35
Overview...................................................................................................................................................................................................35
Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................36
Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................36
Results.......................................................................................................................................................................................................38
Antecedents of goal setting.............................................................................................................38
Consequence on satisfaction...........................................................................................................38
Regression analyses........................................................................................................................................................................40
Discussion.................................................................................................................................................................................................40
CHAPTER 6...........................................................................................................................42
EXPERIMENT 3: NEGATIVE IMPACT OF LOW-BALLING OF
EXPECTATION—COUNTERFACTUALS OR SHIFTING COMPARISON
STANDARD?........................................................................................................................42
Overview...................................................................................................................................................................................................42
Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................43
Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................43
Results.......................................................................................................................................................................................................45
Antecedents to goal setting.............................................................................................................45
Consequence on satisfaction...........................................................................................................45
Potential [Range] salience.............................................................................................................45
Belief in effort-performance relationship.......................................................................................46
Regression analysis.........................................................................................................................................................................48
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48
Discussion
CHAPTER 7...........................................................................................................................50
EXPERIMENT 4: COMPARING CONFIRMED LOW GOAL STANDARD TO
DISCONFIRMED HIGH GOAL STANDARD..............................................................50
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................................................50
Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................50
Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................51
Results........................................................................................................................................................................................................52
Confirmed low vs. disconfirmed high goals....................................................................................52
Information at feedback..................................................................................................................53
CHAPTER 8...........................................................................................................................56
EXPERIMENT 5: CORRECTING THE LOW-BALLING OF GOALS..................56
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................................................56
Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................56
Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................57
Results........................................................................................................................................................................................................58
Correlates of Goal Setting: Individual Differences............................................................................................59
Experiment 1....................................................................................................................................59
Experiments 2 and 3........................................................................................................................60
Open-ended Thoughts.....................................................................................................................................................................60
CHAPTER 9...........................................................................................................................61
GENERAL DISCUSSION..................................................................................................61
Perceived control and expertise......................................................................................................63
Task difficulty and desirability of outcome.....................................................................................64
Goals as reference points.................................................................................................................................................71
CHAPTER 10........................................................................................................................68
FUTURE DIRECTIONS....................................................................................................68
Limitations...............................................................................................................................................................................................69
TABLES.................................................................................................................................71
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................91
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APPENDICES—PROCEDURES AND STIMULI 98
APPENDIX 1: EXPERIMENT 1 PROCEDURES......................................................................................................98
APPENDIX 2: EXPERIMENT 2 PROCEDURES......................................................................................................99
APPENDIX 3: EXPERIMENT 3 PROCEDURES....................................................................................................100
APPENDIX 4: EXPERIMENT 4 PROCEDURES....................................................................................................101
APPENDIX 5: EXPERIMENT 5 PROCEDURES....................................................................................................102
APPENDIX 6A—STIMULI...........................................................................................................................................103
EXPERIMENT 1—PART 1 [ANTICIPATE REPEAT DECISION CONDITION]..........................................103
APPENDIX 6B—STIMULI............................................................................................................................................104
EXPERIMENT 1—PART 1 [NO-ANTICIPATE CONDITION]..........................................................................104
APPENDIX 6C—STIMULI...........................................................................................................................................111
EXPERIMENT 1—PART 2: GOAL AND RANGE AT FEEDBACK CONDITION.......................................111
APPENDIX 6D-STIMULI...............................................................................................113
EXPERIMENT 1—PART 2: PERFORMANCE ONLY AT FEEDBACK
CONDITION........................................................................................................................113
TASK 2: ANAGRAM........................................................................................................122
TASK 2: ANAGRAM.........................................................................................................123
APPENDIX 8....................................................................................................................................................................142
EXPERIMENT 3-STIMULI........................................................................................................................................142
APPENDIX 8A:...............................................................................................................................................................155
STUDY 5 READING TASK—CORRECTIVE CONDITION..............................................................................155
APPENDIX 8B:................................................................................................................................................................156
STUDY 5 READING TASK -DISAPPOINTMENT CONDITION.....................................................................156
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing this dissertation would not have materialized without the constant support
and guidance of my advisor Gita Johar. Undoubtedly she has been central to my
development as a doctoral student and will continue to be my role model for the kind of
researcher I aspire to be. On a personal level, I am deeply grateful for the generous time
and care she has provided over the years, and for what sometimes seemed to be
undeserved. She certainly has been, and will continue to be, a great source of my
intellectual and personal inspiration. I am extremely grateful to Don Lehmann and Ran
Kivetz for their warm encouragements and guidance over the years. Likewise, I would
like to thank my other committee members Peter Gollwitzer and Ravi Dhar for their
valuable comments and input during the final stage of my dissertation.
I would also like to thank other faculty members who have provided continued
support and input towards my progress, especially Michel Pham and Morris Holbrook for
their insightful feedback during the initial part of my dissertation and thereafter. I also
thank Natalie Mizik and Jonathan Levav for their lighthearted support over the years, and
Leonard Lee who has generously provided valuable guidance and friendship during the
final stage of my years at Columbia. I am also grateful for the warm support I have
received from Asim Ansari, Bemd Schmitt, Kamel Jedidi and Rajeev Kohli.
I owe a special gratitude to Anirban Mukhopadhyay who has contributed
invaluably to my development during my earlier years at Columbia and has continued to
be incredibly generous with his help ever since; and to Martin Zemborain for his
unfailingly candid and warm-hearted friendship. My often long hours in the fifth floor of
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