The Role of Proactive Personality, Goal Orientation & Self-Efficacy in Goal Setting & Performance

Abstract

Better understanding the relationship between self-efficacy and self-set goal level has the potential to further enhance motivation theory and individual and organizational performance. Because of their desires to have an impact and effect change, if highly proactive people do not believe they will be successful (have low task efficacy), they may choose to put their efforts elsewhere and set lower goals for a task on which they are less efficacious. We propose a model in which proactive personality moderates the effect of self-efficacy on self-set goal level, which in turn positively influences task performance. We also investigate the effects of learning and performance goal orientations and core self-evaluations on self-efficacy. Results generally support the model, including the proposed interaction between proactive personality and self-efficacy. Individuals higher in self-efficacy tended to set higher performance goals regardless of their level of proactive personality. When performers were lower in ...