Parkinson's Law as a goal-setting phenomenon

Abstract

Two experiments were designed to test the effects of different time limits on time taken to complete a task (Parkinson's law) and to determine whether goal-setting mediated the effects of time limits on performance rate. It was hypothesized that the different time limits would produce differences in performance rate only if and to the degree that different goals were set by Ss in the different conditions. Two groups were run in each experiment. On the first three trials, the Excess-time Ss were given twice as much time as was needed to complete an addition task, and the Minimum-time Ss were given just enough time to finish it. On the fourth trial, the Ss in both groups were allowed to work at their own pace, and on the fifth trial the Ss in both groups were asked to work as fast as their estimated “fastest possible” time. Both groups in both experiments performed in accordance with Parkinson's Law on trials 1 to 3 (the Excess Ss taking longer to complete the task), and the hypothesis that goal setting mediated the Parkinson effect was supported. It was also found, however, that the same goal could mean different things in different contexts. For instance, the Ss in the Excess group who were trying to work “quickly but not as fast as possible” on trials 1 to 3 worked at a significantly slower pace on these trials than the Minimum Ss who said they were working for the same goal during this period. Although the Parkinson effect did not extend to trials 4 and 5, goals were related to performance within groups on these trials.