Goal Attributes Research Articles

Determinants of Ethical Sales Behavior and its Impact on the Performance of Salespersons

Ethical behavior is a long-term trust relationship between salesperson and consumers, while salesperson performance is measured by short-term sales. In Indonesia, consumers make transactions based on their trust. Building relationships with consumers through ethical behavior can increase transactions which also increases the salesperson's performance as a result of long-term relationships with consumers. This study aims to analyze the effect of goal attributes and use of information technology on salesperson performance through ethical sales behavior. The subjects were salespersons of food and beverages in Java island consisting of 348 respondents, with the criteria of at least one year of experience in selling. Data were collected by distributing questionnaires. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Data analysis was carried out using descriptive and verification statistical techniques to determine the effect between variables through hypothesis testing. The results showed that the attributes of the goal and use of information technology both directly and indirectly showed a significant effect on the salesperson's performance through ethical sales behavior.

Role of Benevolent Goal Attributions as Currency in Employee-Organization Social Exchange Quality

The purpose of this paper is to develop and investigate how organization’s provisions of resources, employees’ perceived intentions behind the provisions, and the effects of work on employee well-b...

Unintentional unethical behavior: the mediating and moderating roles of mindfulness

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the mediating and moderating roles of mindfulness in explaining the influences of performance goal attributes (e.g. difficulty, specificity and performance pressure), moral justification and peer unethical sales behavior on unintentional unethical behavior in the sales context. In this study, goal attributes and peer unethical sales behavior are proposed to positively impact unethical selling behavior. Especially, mindfulness and moral justification are explored as mediators of these relationships. Moreover, mindfulness also moderates the influence of peer’s unethical sales behavior on moral justification.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 188 salespeople working in companies in Vietnam is included to test the conceptual framework. Partial least squares structural equations modeling and SmartPLS v3 were implemented to test the path model.FindingsThis study highlights the mediating and moderating roles of mindfulness in explaining unintentional unethical behavior. The findings indicate that sales performance goals negatively influence mindfulness and positively influence unethical behavior. In the mediating role, mindfulness mediates the relationships between goal attributes and moral justification. Further, moral justification also mediates the influence of mindfulness on unethical behavior. In the moderating role, mindfulness plays a significant impact on the positive relationships between peers’ unethical selling behavior and moral justification.Research limitations/implicationsData are collected from salespeople in Vietnam. Therefore, the results are limited.Practical implicationsWhile many organizations use goal-setting as a tool to promote employees’ performance, it is warned that goal variables (e.g. difficulty, specificity and performance pressure) may lead to unethical behavior. Interestingly, people may fail to notice moral dilemmas because of focusing on the goals. Furthermore, ethical erosion in organizations may spur unethical selling behavior. Therefore, salespeople sell unethically without intention to do so. Proposing mindfulness as self-regulation, these findings may explain the reasons people display unintentional unethical behavior. Therefore, it is crucial to set performance goals for employees not only to promote their performance but also to prevent unethical behaviors.Social implicationsBy focusing on the roles of mindfulness that foster unintended unethical practices, this study provides important implications for governments and policymakers. For example, governments may emphasize ethical codes to clearly definite which practices are unethical. Moreover, ethics training should be considered to enhance ethical cognition in people.Originality/valueEmphasizing unintentional unethical selling behaviors in sales context, this study tests a research framework which highlights the roles of mindfulness in explaining the dark effects of performance goals on people’s cognition and behavior. Therefore, this paper contributes to a deeper understanding of ethical blind spots in people’s cognition.

The Path Is the Goal: How Transformational Leaders Enhance Followers' Job Attitudes and Proactive Behavior.

While leading through goals is usually associated with a task-oriented leadership style, the present work links goal setting to transformational leadership. An online survey with two time points was conducted with employees to investigate the influence of transformational leadership on followers’ job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and proactive behavior via goal attributes. Findings indicate that transformational leaders influence the extent to which followers evaluate organizational goals as important and perceive them as attainable. Multiple mediation analysis revealed that these goal attributes transmit the effect of transformational leadership on followers’ job attitudes and proactive behavior. However, goal importance and goal attainability seem to be of differential importance for the different outcomes.

Thalamocortical and corticothalamic pathways differentially contribute to goal-directed behaviors in the rat.

Highly distributed neural circuits are thought to support adaptive decision-making in volatile and complex environments. Notably, the functional interactions between prefrontal and reciprocally connected thalamic nuclei areas may be important when choices are guided by current goal value or action-outcome contingency. We examined the functional involvement of selected thalamocortical and corticothalamic pathways connecting the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) and the mediodorsal thalamus (MD) in the behaving rat. Using a chemogenetic approach to inhibit projection-defined dmPFC and MD neurons during an instrumental learning task, we show that thalamocortical and corticothalamic pathways differentially support goal attributes. Both pathways participate in adaptation to the current goal value, but only thalamocortical neurons are required to integrate current causal relationships. These data indicate that antiparallel flow of information within thalamocortical circuits may convey qualitatively distinct aspects of adaptive decision-making and highlight the importance of the direction of information flow within neural circuits.

Goal versus trait explanations: Causal attributions beyond the trait-situation dichotomy.

In 4 studies, we show that two behavioral dimensions specified in Kelley's (1967) model of attribution, consistency and distinctiveness of behaviors, determine perceivers' likelihood to explain others' behaviors in terms of their goals versus traits. Participants tended to attribute the cause of others' behaviors to their goals (vs. traits and other characteristics) when behaviors were characterized by high distinctiveness (Study 1A & 1B) or low consistency (Study 2). On the other hand, traits were ascribed as predominant causal explanations when behaviors had low distinctiveness or high consistency. Study 3 investigated the combined effect of those behavioral dimensions on causal attributions and showed that behaviors with high distinctiveness and consistency as well as low distinctiveness and consistency trigger goal attributions. We discuss the implications of the present research in terms of going beyond the dominant approach of trait-situation dichotomy in attribution research. (PsycINFO Database Record

Gamification, quantified-self or social networking? Matching users’ goals with motivational technology

Systems and services we employ in our daily life have increasingly been augmented with motivational designs which fall under the classes of (1) gamification, (2) quantified-self and (3) social networking features that aim to help users reach their goals via motivational enforcement. However, users differ in terms of their orientation and focus toward goals and in terms of the attributes of their goals. Therefore, different classes of motivational design may have a differential fit for users. Being able to distinguish the goal profiles of users, motivational design could be better tailored. Therefore, in this study we investigate how different goal foci (outcome and focus), goals orientation (mastery, proving, and avoiding), and goal attributes (specificity and difficulty) are associated with perceived importance of gamification, social networking and quantified-self features. We employ survey data ($$\mathrm{N}=167$$N=167) from users of HeiaHeia; a popular exercise encouragement app. Results indicate that goal-setting related factors of users and attributes of goals are connected with users' preference over motivational design classes. In particular, the results reveal that being outcome-focused is associated with positive evaluations of gamification and quantified-self design classes. Users with higher proving-orientation perceived gamification and social networking design classes as more important, users with lower goal avoidance-orientation perceived social networking design as more important, whereas users with higher mastery-orientation perceived quantified-self design more important. Users with difficult goals were less likely to perceive gamification and social networking design important, whereas for users with high goal specificity quantified-self features were important. The findings provide insights for the automatic adaptation of motivational designs to users' goals. However, more research is naturally needed to further investigate generalizability of the results.

Family Perspectives on Siblings' Conflict Goals in Middle Childhood: Links to Hierarchical and Affective Features of Sibling Relationships.

This study examined parents' and children's descriptions of older and younger siblings' conflict goals in the late preschool and middle childhood years, and how these attributions were related to sibling relationship quality. Parents and 4- to 10-year-old children from 62 families were interviewed separately about siblings' motivations in two disputes and completed assessments of sibling relationship quality. Goal attributions varied across respondents in ways reflecting their family roles and positioning within disputes. Findings also revealed variations in the goals ascribed to older and younger siblings in line with hierarchical features of sibling relationships, such as younger siblings' conciliation/connectedness motives and older siblings' desires for autonomy/respect. Goal attributions were related to differences between families in the affective tenor of sibling relationships. Results demonstrate how power dynamics in sibling relationships play out in their everyday disputes, and underscore the importance of considering different family members' unique perspectives on children's sibling conflict experiences.

Goal Attribution toward Non-Human Objects during Infancy Predicts Imaginary Companion Status during Preschool Years.

It has been shown that there is a significant relationship between children's mentalizing skills and creation of an imaginary companion (IC). Theorists have proposed that interaction with an IC may improve mentalizing skills, but it is also possible that children's mentalizing skills affect their creation of an IC. In this longitudinal study, we examined whether goal attribution in infants younger than 1 years old (Time 1) predicted their creation of ICs at 48 months old (Time 2). At Time 1, infants' goal attribution was measured in an action prediction experiment, where infants anticipated three types of action goals: (1) another person's goal-directed action (GH condition); (2) another person's non-goal-directed (BH condition); and (3) a mechanical claw's goal-directed action (MC condition). At Time 2, parents completed questionnaires assessing whether their children had ICs. The path analyses using Bayesian estimation revealed that infants' anticipation in the MC condition, but not in the GH and BH conditions, predicted their later IC status. These results indicate that infants' goal attributions to non-human agents may be a strong predictor of their later IC creation. Early mentalizing skills toward non-human objects may provide children with a basis for their engagement in imaginative play.

Goal attributions and instrumental helping at 14 and 24 months of age

Infants reason about goals and helping as early as 3months of age, but toddlers fail to help others appropriately until well into the second year. Five experiments explored the reasons for this discrepancy. First, we verified that 14-month-old toddlers encode the goal of an actor’s reaching action, in a situation in which a social agent selectively reaches for one of two objects. Then, four further experiments presented toddlers with a social agent who manifested her goal in this manner when the two objects were accessible, and then requested help in obtaining her goal object when the two objects were out of reach. In all the experiments, toddlers responded to the actor’s request for help by handing her an out-of-reach object, showing that they understood that a prosocial action was called for and were motivated to perform it. When the two objects had moved out of the social agent’s sight so that she could not indicate the goal object directly, 24-month-old children used her prior goal-directed action to select the appropriate goal object, but 14-month-old toddlers did not. The 14-month-olds toddlers helped appropriately only when no attribution of enduring goals was necessary, because the social agent could see the out-of-reach object and both looked at and reached toward it while making her request. These findings suggest striking limits to 14-month-old toddlers’ understanding of helping.

Children's, adolescents', and adults' reference to goals to explain interpersonal actions

AbstractThis study investigated children's, adolescents', and adults' references to an actor's goals when explaining interpersonal actions. Participants were presented with eight brief stories containing a variety of social events and were asked to explain why the actor in each story performed the central action. Children, adolescents, and adults mentioned goals for most of the stories. Adults and adolescents mentioned psychological goals much more often than did children. Older children, adolescents, and adults mentioned complex psychological goals more often than did younger children. Younger children often mentioned instrumental or social goals. When making goal attributions, children, adolescents, and adults considered both the nature of the action and the social context in which it occurred. Participants mentioned psychological goals more often when explaining an antisocial action and social goals when explaining a prosocial action. Participants were also more likely to mention psychological goals when interpersonal events immediately preceding the central action were described. Thus, goals were offered as explanations for interpersonal actions by all age groups, but the type of goals mentioned varied by the age of the participant, the social context, and the valence of the action. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Attribution of discourse goals for using concrete- and abstract-tenor metaphors and similes with or without discourse context

Although there has been considerable research on the comprehension of figurative language, investigation of its production has been much less common. A particularly neglected aspect has been the study of the attributions by the language receiver of the language producer's intentions in using various types of figurative language. Experiment 1 presented young-adult participants with 16 sentences containing metaphors ( The submarine was a whale) and similes ( The submarine was like a whale). They were asked to check as many of twelve discourse goals, reasons why they thought the author might have chosen that figure of speech, as they thought it to be relevant to that particular sentence. Materials were presented (1) orally, in written form, or both, (2) with or without a prior meaningful discourse context, and (3) with a concrete or abstract topic. The most frequently chosen goal was to Compare Similarities, the only goal on which similes (more often chosen) and metaphors differed. The pattern of nine discourse goals differed between the Abstract and Concrete sentences. The factor of discourse context affected the discourse goal attributions on Be Humorous and Compare Similarities, while the factor of modality affected only Add Emphasis. Experiments 2 and 3 examined stylistic preference and perceived aptness of the comparisons expressed in the sentences used in Experiment 1 as possible explanations for the results obtained. Findings were interpreted in terms of different discourse goals tapping into either the situation level model of representation or only the propositional textbase level.

Goal Orientation, Goal Difficulty, and Incentive Values of Academic Goals

We examined relationships among goal attributes (difficulty and affective value) and goal types (mastery, performance, intrinsic, and extrinsic). Goal attributes of positive affect value and relative salience of positive value were higher for intrinsic goals, mastery goals, and more difficult goals, qualified by an interaction between difficulty and type of goal. Intrinsic goals were more affectively positive than extrinsic goals and mastery goals were more positive than performance goals, but these differences vanished if goals were also perceived as difficult. Results were consistent with goal-orientation theories and suggest the usefulness of integrating incentive-attribute concepts with goal-orientation theories.

Motivational processes and the persistence of weight‐loss dieting

Objectives. The principal aim was to determine whether ‘controlled’ motivation can account for differences in persistence with weight‐loss dieting. The study also investigated whether goal‐setting attributes moderated or mediated the relationship between controlled motivation to diet and persistence with dieting. Design. A 2 × 2 between‐subjects design was used, with controlled motivation (low versus high), and type of feedback (positive versus negative) as the independent variables. This design enabled the investigation of their separate and interactive effects. Method. In a vignette study, 100 females were told to imagine they wanted to lose 3 kilograms. They then answered questions concerning their individual weight‐loss goals. Controlled motivation was assessed via a questionnaire. Two predetermined schedules of reinforcement for the dieting created a positive and a negative feedback group. The number of weeks for which the participants indicated they would continue dieting provided the index of dieting persistence, or the outcome measure. Results. The findings revealed that those with highly controlled dieting motivation persisted with dieting for longer than those whose motivation was less controlled, irrespective of whether weight was lost. Goal specificity moderated the effect of controlled motivation on persistence, and commitment to weight‐loss goals partially mediated the contribution of controlled motivation to persistence. Conclusions. To understand variability in the persistence of weight‐loss dieting, we need to invoke differences in the nature of motivation to diet and specific weight‐loss goal attributes. Prevention strategies should aim to encourage autonomous decision making among young females, especially in relation to weight‐loss dieting.

Personal goals and emotional well-being: the moderating role of motive dispositions.

Two studies examined the importance of motive dispositions in determining the extent to which the pursuit of personal goals accounts for interindividual differences in emotional well-being. Within the domains of agency and communion, motives were assessed with a picture-story test, whereas self-report measures were used to assess goal attributes. Study 1 found that progress toward motive-congruent goals, in contrast to progress toward motive-incongruent goals, accounted for students' daily experiences of emotional well-being. Study 2 found that the combination of high commitment to and high attainability of motive-congruent goals predicted an increase in students' emotional well-being over 1 semester. In contrast, high commitment to motive-incongruent goals predicted a decline in emotional well-being. Results are discussed with reference to a 2-system approach to human motivation.

The Effects of Goal-Setting Method on Goal Attributes in Athletes: A Field Experiment

Previous literature on goal setting indicates that athlete participation in the goal-setting process can improve performance (cf. Kyllo & Landers, 1995). Much of the past research, however, has been criticized for using contrived environments where the motivation and involvement of the participants is questionable. This field experiment examined the effect of three methods of goal-setting (participative, assigned, and self-set) on various goal attributes. Track and field athletes (N = 67) were randomly assigned to one of the three experimental conditions. Results of between-groups ANOVAs showed a significant difference in the perception of the amount of participation athletes perceived in each of the three conditions, indicating the success of the manipulation. Further analyses, however, revealed no advantage to the participative and self-set conditions compared to the assigned condition in terms of goal attributes. The influence of goal-setting method on other goal attributes may be spurious or due to other contextual variables.

An empirical analysis of a goal setting questionnaire

AbstractThis research presents an analysis of a goal setting questionnaire developed by Locke and Latham (1984). The Locke and Latham measure attempts to assess the core goal attributes of ‘specificity’ and ‘difficulty’, as well as other attributes of the goal setting process (such as perceptions about ‘performance feedback’, ‘supervisor support’, ‘conflict’ and ‘stress’). The psychometric properties of the measure were examined using respondents from employees of a large, west‐coast electronics organization. A principal components analysis extracted 10 meaningful factors and identified a need for additional items. Results generally supported the meaningfulness of the goal setting factors and provide important directions for future research.

The Student Goals Exploration: Reliability and Concurrent Validity

This paper reports the reliability and concurrent validity of the Student Goals Exploration, a paper and pencil inventory that measures goals students bring to college and college courses. Reliabilities demonstrating internal consistency and correlations demonstrating concurrent validity with three existing scales (LOGO II, the Need for Cognition Scale, and the Goal Instability Scale) suggest that the SGE provides good indicators for (a) general college goals, (b) general academic orientations toward courses, (c) subject-specific goals in courses, (d) specific goal attributes, and (e) levels of student confidence in course success.

The Effects of Three Participative Goal Setting Strategies on Task Goal Attributes and Perfor Mance

Historically, goal-setting research has included attempts to gauge the importance of participation on perfor Mance and other task-goal attributes such as satisfaction. But much of the prevailing research has failed to recognise the dynamics of the process itself. In an attempt to determine if variation in the level of participation would have any impact, a laboratory experiment using clerical-type tasks was conducted with 72 students separated into participative and assigned goal-setting conditions. Those in the participative condition were assigned to one of three strategies which varied the actual participation allowed. It was hypothesized that both condition and strategies would affect such factors as perfor Mance and satisfaction. Results indicated that the participative condition did not have a significant impact but that there were some differences created by using different participative strategies. Discussion centered on the implications for organisations considering a participative management philosophy and suggestions for further research.

Motivation and individual differences in learning: An integration of developmental, differential and cognitive perspectives

Cognitively-based motivational processes are examined from achievement and goal setting perspectives to provide a common basis for: (1) resolution of discontinuities in the empirical literature; (2) analysis of the role of motivational dispositions; and (3) consideration of motivation-cognitive processing interactions during complex skill acquisition. Goal orientation and goal attributes are examined with respect to their detrimental and beneficial influence on performance through effects-on goal choice and self-regulatory activities. Theoretically-related differential approaches to motivational processing are found to differ in their utility for understanding motivation among children and adults. The effects of motivational processing on cognitive processes during complex skill acquisition are considered for the purpose of identifying when, how, and for whom specific motivational interventions might be most effective.