A Review of Applied Goal Setting Studies in the Behavior Analytic Literature (1990-2022)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Goal setting is a common intervention in organizational behavior management (OBM) and the larger management literature in general. Even though goal setting is ubiquitous in the OBM literature, there have been no systematic reviews of the effects of goal setting on employee performance. The current review includes applied studies in the behavior-analytic literature published between 1990 and 2022 that used goal setting as a component to improve performance. We coded 46 separate studies by study characteristics and goal-setting characteristics. The use of goals in applied settings is discussed.