Goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002) was developed
inductively within industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology
over a 25-year period, based on some 400 laboratory and
field studies. These studies showed that specific, high (hard)
goals lead to a higher level of task performance than do easy
goals or vague, abstract goals such as the exhortation to ‘‘do one’s
best.’’ So long as a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite
ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals,
there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and
task performance. Because goals refer to future valued outcomes,
the setting of goals is first and foremost a discrepancycreating
process. It implies discontent with one’s present condition
and the desire to attain an object or outcome.
Goals are related to affect in that goals set the primary standard
for self-satisfaction with performance. High, or hard, goals
are motivating because they require one to attain more in order to
be satisfied than do low, or easy, goals. Feelings of success in the
workplace occur to the extent that people see that they are able to
grow and meet job challenges by pursuing and attaining goals
that are important and meaningful.