The influences of social aspects of competition in goal-setting situations

Abstract

The influences of goals with the evaluation and comparison aspects of competition on task performance were examined in a laboratory experiment. University students were asked to do their best, set a goal, or were assigned moderately or extremely difficult goals for their performance on an idea-generation task. Competition was introduced by informing half the students that their performance would be evaluated and compared to others involved in the experiment. Competition did result in higher self-set goals, but did not significantly influence idea generation performance, self-efficacy, or goal commitment. However, participants’ subjective competitiveness did correlate with task performance, goal commitment, and self-efficacy. Discussion focused on the relation of these findings to existing research on goal setting and competition. Additionally, the importance of subjective competitiveness, performance evaluation, and social comparison in goal-setting situations are discussed.