Combined effects of normative information and task difficulty on the goal commitment-performance relationship

Abstract

The role of normative information, task difficulty and goal commitment on task performance in an assigned goal condition was investigated in a laboratory study using 209 student volunteers. The experiment was a 2 (task difficulty) by 2 (normative information) factorial design. All subjects received assigned difficult goals and normative information indicating how previous individuals had performed on one of two versions of an anagram task (easy or difficult) after which subjects indicated their goal commitment and completed anagrams for a short work period. Results indicated a significant 3-way interaction (task difficulty, normative information and goal commitment) on task performance. Findings suggest that goal commitment moderates the effects of normative information and task difficulty on task performance.