AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF CAREER GOAL SETTING

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of career goal setting on his present working life adjustment. In this study, the term career goal means the goal that one set voluntarily about his future working life, such as promotion, improvement in his professional skill, starting his own business, and so on.Respondents were 390 employees of the private enterprises.Hypotheses examined were as follows:(1) Those who set some goals about their future working life (goal-setting group) will be more adjustable to their present working life than those who set no goals (no-goal group).(2) Of goal-setting group, those who perceive that their present job executions link with theirgoal attainments will be more adjustable than those who don't have such perception.(3) The relationship between the present working condition and the present working life adjustment is stronger for no-goal group than goal-setting group.The results obtained were as follows:Hypotheses 1 and 2 were supported as a whole. Namely when one set some goal in his career, and when he perceived high instrumentality of his present job execution, he showed better adjustment to his present working life. Results about the intensity of the relationship between working condition and working life adjustment were not clear. Further examination was needed about hypothesis 3.The necessity of the condition analytic examinations about the differences of goal setting effects by the following three factors was discussed. These were the complexity of the task in which one set goal, the difficulty of the goal, and the time span of the goal. Furthermore the necessity was mentioned for the examination about the factors which induced career goal-setting.