Goal Self-concordance Research Articles

Establishing self-concordant goals: a longitudinal study on the influence of ego identity on goal self-concordance.

Self-concordant goals are those that align closely with an individual's intrinsic interests and values, driving autonomous motivation, and resulting in higher satisfaction and goal achievement. The relevance of studying the link between ego identity and goal self-concordance lies in understanding how a well-defined ego identity can foster the pursuit of authentic and fulfilling goals. This study investigates the relationship between ego identity and goal self-concordance, focusing on how individuals' sense of identity influences their alignment with personal goals. Data were gathered through a cross-sectional analysis of 292 students and a longitudinal follow-up with 98 participants over two intervals. Results confirmed significant correlations between ego identity status and various dimensions of goal self-concordance. Notably, different ego identity statuses exhibited distinct levels of goal self-concordance, ranked from highest to lowest as follows: identity achievement, achievement-foreclosure intermediate, moratorium, foreclosure, moratorium-diffusion intermediate, and diffusion. Cross-lagged analysis revealed a causal relationship where ego identity influences goal self-concordance, providing insights into the cognitive and behavioral processes involved in goal setting. This study extends the implications of the goal self-concordance model and reveals a causal relationship between ego identity status and goal self-concordance. From a practical perspective, our findings suggest that educational and developmental interventions aimed at supporting identity development and commitment could lead to more self-concordant goal setting. Such programs could ultimately promote greater well-being and personal growth among students.

Redefining talent dynamics: overqualification, goal self-concordance and expansion-oriented job crafting as catalysts for innovative work behavior

PurposeUtilizing the framework of person-job fit theory and the Model of Proactive Motivation Process and Antecedents, the primary objective of this study is to scrutinize the correlation between perceived overqualification and job crafting, in turn, holds the potential to stimulate innovative work behavior. Additionally, we assess the moderating role of goal self-concordance within this intricate relationship.Design/methodology/approachEmploying a three-wave time-lagged survey methodology encompassing 200 institutional staffing in China, we methodically substantiate the proposed model. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsOur findings affirm a positive correlation between perceived overqualification and expansion-oriented job crafting, contingent upon the presence of goal self-concordance. Notably, individuals exhibiting a heightened goal self-concordance intensify the relationship between perceived overqualification and expansion-oriented job crafting, thereby fostering an augmented propensity for innovative work behavior.Originality/valueThis study diverges from prevailing negativity surrounding perceived overqualification, emphasizing the positive influence of expansion-oriented job crafting in reshaping the impact of perceived overqualification on innovative work behavior. It represents the initial exploration into the role that goal self-concordance play in influencing overqualified employees, contributing to an enriched understanding of the intricate interplay.

The Why to Bear Any How: Goal Self-Concordance, Meaning, and Depressive and Anxious Symptomatology

The Why to Bear Any How: Goal Self-Concordance, Meaning, and Depressive and Anxious Symptomatology

Workplace coaching: study tests if Big Five personality traits and their ABCD components predictauthentic self-development

PurposeThis paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.FindingsA study explored whether the Big Five personality traits and their affective, behavioral, cognitive and desire components (ABCD) components were relevant to authentic self-development (ASD) through workplace coaching. The authors assessed the personalities of 176 clients both before and after they worked with coaches. Results showed higher levels of mean AB mediated associations between personality and perceived competence and goal commitment, Personality predicted goal self-concordance, but these effects were not mediated by AB. Meanwhile, neither personality nor AB predicted goal stability.Originality/valueThe briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Examining the Progression in Happiness Research: A Comprehensive Review of Theoretical and Empirical Discoveries

Extensive research has been conducted on the complex and multidimensional nature of happiness across various fields of study, employing different theoretical and empirical approaches. This comprehensive review aims to integrate findings on the definition and measurement of happiness, focusing on hedonic subjective experience versus eudaimonic self-actualization, as well as global versus domain-specific assessments. In this review, influential theories are explored, including set point genetics, adaptation contrast, positive emotions, motivation needs, goal self-concordance, homeostasis regulation capabilities opportunity and social connection. Additionally, discussed are individual predictors such as personality traits (e.g., extraversion and neuroticism), a wide range of emotions from joy to sadness, values related to self-transcendence versus self-enhancement religious faith and spirituality beliefs family dynamics social relationships income health environmental factors cultural dimensions reflecting individualism-collectivism masculinity-femininity. The implications for policy practice education are also addressed in this discussion. It emphasizes the importance of incorporating indicators that measure well-being into policies practices educational systems implementing interventions aimed at fostering positive experiences integrating happiness-related content into curricula. Future research could involve the creation of more refined and reliable measures, carrying out thorough comparative experiments on various theories, analyzing complex relationships between multiple predictors, developing participatory applications that are customized for specific local contexts, and conducting comprehensive assessments to determine the impacts and outcomes of interventions. By adopting an interdisciplinary and culturally sensitive approach based on evidence, we can continue to advance the field of happiness science and promote greater human well-being.

Goal self-concordance mediates the relation of core self-evaluations with organizational citizenship behavior but not with environmental organizational citizenship behavior

This paper tested antecedents of organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCB-E) and goal self-concordance as a mediator between those antecedents and OCB-E or related outcomes. We proposed that core self-evaluations, a well-studied antecedent of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), are also related to a newer form of OCB – namely, OCB-E. Similarly, we proposed that environmental identity, a well-studied antecedent of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBS), are also related to a specific form of PEBS – again, OCB-E. The specific relations of these antecedents to OCB-E, to the best of our knowledge, had never been tested. Drawing on the goal-self concordance model, we tested goal self-concordance as a mediating mechanism in each of these relationships. Results drawn from a sample of 297 employees from diverse organizations support goal self-concordance as a relevant mediator between core self-evaluations and OCB, but not for the remaining relationships. Still, environmental identity, as well as core self-evaluations, are positively and significantly related to OCB-E. We discuss implications for the conceptualization of OCB-E and ways to further study this concept.

Analysis of participant-rated feasibility and acceptability of an online, theory-based pre-drinking behavioural intervention

To date, few interventions have been developed to target pre-drinking specifically. An online, theory-based intervention by Caudwell et al. (2018) showed reductions in pre-drinking alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm, albeit independent of the intervention component/s used. Information about feasibility and acceptability of pre-drinking interventions may therefore be an important point of focus in refining and developing effective interventions. The present manuscript investigates how participants (N = 117) in Caudwell et al. (2018) rated the intervention in terms of feasibility and acceptability. A feasibility and acceptability measure was factor analysed and investigated in relation to participant scores on theory-based measures (e.g., attitude, goal self-concordance), as well as demographic and alcohol consumption variables measured at baseline. Results indicate participants with higher scores on theory-based measures related to behaviour change and goal self-concordance at baseline rated the intervention more positively at follow-up. The findings indicate future intervention research should consider stages of change, with broader alcohol policy and public health strategy focused on changing attitudes toward pre-drinking, which remains a popular health-risk behaviour.

Study protocol for an adapted personal project analysis to measure vertical inter-goal relations on physical activity and diet

BackgroundThe promotion of multiple healthy lifestyles has been implemented as part of public health efforts to prevent and reduce the burden of non-communicable diseases. However, these interventions have shown a heterogeneity in their effectiveness. The pursuit of multiple daily goals may influence overall progress in achieving health goals. Horizontal inter-goal relations can be conflicting (due to time constraints) or facilitating (due to goal compatibility) and impact progress towards goal achievement. Personal values also play an important role in health promotion. Personal values direct attention towards accomplishing a higher-level goal through goal setting. Identifying the conflicting or facilitating relationships between health goals and personal values would provide insights in how individuals value health and the personal values that may support the adoption of a healthy behavior. The health goals that this study will focus on are physical activity and a healthy diet.MethodsParticipants between 18 and 30 years old residing in Belgium and interested in a healthy diet and/or physical activity, will be recruited. The study will be a mixed-methods research study based on an adapted personal project analysis for goal elicitation, goal appraisal, and rating of inter-goal conflicting or facilitating relations on a cross-impact matrix. The main objectives include examining the conflicting and facilitating relations between health goals and personal values. Secondary objectives include: examining correlations between horizontal and vertical goal relations; and the goal self-concordance score as a method of data triangulation of facilitating relations between goals and personal values.DiscussionThis study will provide insights into how the emerging adult population relate healthy behaviors, specifically physical activity and a healthy diet, to their personal values. The degree to which individuals are able to pursue a health goal is also influenced by other life goals, and therefore the conflicting and facilitating relations between health goals and other life goals will also be examined. This study contributes to multiple health behavior change theories and has implications for the formulation of interventions for the promotion of healthy behaviors.

Workplace coaching: testing whether personality traits and their ABCD components predict authentic self-development via affect balance

PurposeLittle is known about how individual differences play out in the process of authentic self-development (ASD) through workplace coaching. This article explores whether the Big Five personality traits and affective, behavioral, cognitive and desire (ABCDs) components of the Big Five personality traits were relevant to ASD, specifically examining the role of affect as a potential mediator.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 176 clients' personality was assessed pre-coaching. Aspects of ASD (perceived competence, goal commitment, self-concordance and goal stability) were assessed post-coaching. Clients' affect balance (AB) scores were obtained post-session.FindingsMultilevel path models showed that higher levels of mean AB (but not the slope) mediated the associations between personality and perceived competence and goal commitment. Personality predicted goal self-concordance, but these effects were not mediated by AB, neither personality nor AB predicted goal stability.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors encourage randomized controlled trials to further test findings of this study. Ruling out method variance is not possible completely. However, the authors put forth considerations to support the authors' claim that method variance did not overly influence our results.Practical implicationsThese results suggest the necessity of an optimal experience of affect for ASD in workplace coaching and the understanding of how ABCDs, AB and ASD are related beyond coaching psychology.Social implicationsA deeper understanding of personality processes is important for fostering ASD to meet the challenges of management development in the authors' volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA) world.Originality/valueThis is the first study to test personality as a process in workplace coaching linking personality to one of the most valued leadership skills: authenticity.

The impact of role overload on job crafting from the perspective of construal level theory

PurposePrevious studies have vague views about whether employees who are required to complete large amounts of work (i.e. role overload) would proactively create a change in their job characteristics (i.e. job crafting), because the cognitive mechanism underlying the nexus between role overload and job crafting is unclear. The aim of this study is to identify why and when role overload has an impact on job crafting.Design/methodology/approachThis study builds a second-stage moderated mediation model. Using a two-wave panel field study of 213 employee–supervisor matched data, this study examines the proposed hypotheses.FindingsResults show that role overload decreases construal level, which can determine the tendency of employees to focus on the feasibility (low level of construal) or desirability (high level of construal) of behaviors. Goal self-concordance is the degree to which employees pursue their personal goals based on feelings of personal interests and values. The authors find that goal self-concordance guides employees who have higher levels of construal to exert more effort in job crafting. The authors further find that goal self-concordance moderates the mediating role of construal level. Specifically, for employees in pursuit of self-concordant goals, role overload reduces their construal level, resulting in less effort in job crafting. For employees who do not pursue self-concordant goals, role overload decreases their construal level, thereby improving job crafting.Originality/valueThe findings of this study enrich the literature on role overload and job crafting by revealing the mechanism and boundary conditions of the relationship between role overload and job crafting.

The Impact of Spiritual Leadership on Employee’s Work Engagement–A Study Based on the Mediating Effect of Goal Self-Concordance and Self-Efficacy

The average stress of people in China’s workplace is reaching the peak in recent two years. To improve employee’s positive psychological factors, Spiritual leadership has a good performance in this regard. Based on the mediating effect of goal self-concordance and self-efficacy, this paper further studies the impact of spiritual leadership on employee’s work engagement. Through the empirical study, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) Spiritual leadership significantly positively affects the employee’s work engagement. (2) Spiritual leadership has a significant positive effect on goal self-concordance and self-efficacy. (3) Goal self-concordance and self-efficacy have significant positive effects on employee’s work engagement. (4) Goal self-concordance and self-efficacy play a partial mediating role in the process of spiritual leadership’s impact on employees’ work engagement. This study found the new mediator which partly revealed the mechanism between the effectiveness of Spiritual Leadership and employee’s work engagement. This study may serve as one of the researches for improving the effectiveness of leaders in organizations and promoting the motivation of employees in the workplace.

When More is More: Do Non-Restricted Goals Benefit Employers and the Environment Too?

Prior research on goal self-concordance (GSC) and goal attainment (GA) has studied these dimensions as transversal sections through a person's life domains. Blending the recent developments in self-determination theory and pro-environmental behavior literature, the current study introduced the concept of non-restricted goals and explored whether work climate (WCQ) and environmental identity (EID) impact GA and, through it, in-role job performance (IRB), organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) and wellbeing, as well as organizational citizenship behaviors for the environment (OCBE). It also explored GSC along with basic psychological needs' satisfaction (BPNS) and GA, as explanatory mechanisms. The study relied on data collected at two different moments in time, with a retained sample of 201 employees from different organizations. Results confirmed that WCQ and EID are relevant antecedents for IRB, OCB and wellbeing, as well as OCBE. Except for the direct relationship between EID and OCB/OCBE, most of these impacts were indirect, through BPNS, GSC or GA. The current study did not find a significant relationship between GSC and GA, adding to the line of mixed results regarding their relationship. The findings inform pro-environmental interventions in the workplace, as well as human resource management practices that foster employee wellbeing, work-life balance, and job performance.

Goal Self-Concordance Model: What Have We Learned and Where are We Going

Goal Self-Concordance Model: What Have We Learned and Where are We Going

Do mindful people set better goals? Investigating the relation between trait mindfulness, self-concordance, and goal progress

The present research examined the relation between trait mindfulness, self-concordance, and goal progress. We hypothesized that mindfulness would be positively associated with setting self-concordant goals (Studies 1–3), which would in turn predict greater goal progress (Studies 2 and 3). An internal mini meta-analysis (N = 1522) indicates that mindfulness had a small, positive association with self-concordant goal setting, r = 0.14, p < .001. Two longitudinal studies (Studies 2 and 3) found a small indirect effect of mindfulness on goal progress through self-concordance, although this was marginal in Study 2. In addition, Studies 2 and 3 found that mindfulness predicted increases in goal self-concordance over time. These findings provide support for the proposition that mindful people set “better” goals.

How Does Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Influence Innovation Behavior? Exploring the Mechanism of Job Satisfaction and Zhongyong Thinking.

Innovation behavior for entrepreneurship is known as a driving force to obtain competitive advantages. As a key quality for entrepreneurial success, the mechanism of entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE) acting on innovation behavior needs further verification, which has led to the primary objective of this paper via applying the Goal Self-Concordance Theory, as well as to further building a theoretical model. Two hundred forty-nine samples of Chinese entrepreneurs have been empirically analyzed in this study, contributing to the following findings. Firstly, ESE has significantly positive effects on entrepreneurial innovation behavior. Secondly, job satisfaction plays a mediating role between ESE and innovation behavior. Thirdly, Zhongyong thinking moderates the relationship between ESE and job satisfaction. The research results might deliver great value in cultivating ESE, encouraging positive entrepreneurial attitude, enhancing job satisfaction, and ultimately inspiring innovation behaviors.

Repairing Police Psychological Safety: The Role of Career Adaptability, Feedback Environment, and Goal-Self Concordance Based on the Conservation of Resources Theory

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of career adaptability, feedback environment, and goal-self concordance in improving police psychological safety. Questionnaires with integral and regular answers were collected from 295 police officers from four provinces in China. The police officers completed a questionnaire that included items measuring goal-self concordance, supervisor feedback environment, psychological safety, and demographics. In a separate questionnaire, each supervisor rated the subordinate’s career adaptability. Career adaptability indirectly influences psychological safety through the feedback environment. Career adaptability has a greater influence on improving psychological safety for police officers with lower goal-self concordance than for individuals with higher goal-self concordance. Police officers with lower goal-self concordance must care about their future work roles, control their personal professional activities, make education and career choices based on curiosity, and be confident in their own careers to improve their psychological safety.

Rightly crossing the Rubicon: Evaluating goal self-concordance prior to selection helps people choose more intrinsic goals

We studied how people “cross the Rubicon” when making personal goal selections. In Studies 1 and 2 participants rated the self-concordance of four candidate goals, two with intrinsic and two with extrinsic content, before selecting two goals to actually pursue. Intrinsic goal content predicted higher self-concordance, as did matching between goal content and participant values and motives. Self-concordance in turn explained participants’ actual goal-selections. In longitudinal Study 2, intrinsic goal selection predicted increased well-being. In experimental Study 3, participants randomly assigned to rate candidate goals prior to selection made more intrinsic selections on average, compared to those not afforded this opportunity. We conclude that considering one’s motivations for various candidate goals prior to selecting among them can improve one’s goal choices.

Wanting or having to: The role of goal self-concordance in episodic future thinking.

While it is established that goal processing is a central component of episodic future thinking, how personal goals shape future event representations is not fully understood. Here, we explored the influence of the source of motivation underlying goal pursuit. Personal goals differ in their degree of self-concordance, which depends on the primary motives underlying goal pursuit. We distinguished between self-concordant (what one wants to achieve) and non-self-concordant (what one has to achieve) goals. Participants were asked to imagine specific future events associated with each type of goals. We found that self-concordant future events have a privileged phenomenological status: they are associated with a stronger sense of "realness" and of pre-experiencing the future, are more integrated with autobiographical knowledge, and are characterized by more positive and intense emotions. Furthermore, psychological need satisfaction was a characteristic component of self-concordant future thoughts. Implications of these findings for motivation and goal pursuit are discussed.

The effects of Academic self-efficacy, Goal-Self Concordance, Grit On Academic Related Efforts

The effects of Academic self-efficacy, Goal-Self Concordance, Grit On Academic Related Efforts

고차원해석개입이 목표자기일치감 및 학업지연행동에 미치는 영향 : 예비연구

본 연구는 자기통제이론에 기반하여 고안된 ‘고차원해석 개입’을 통해 목표의 본질적이고 중요한 가치에 집중하도록 촉진함으로써 자기통제력을 높일 수 있다는 해석수준이론가들의 제언을 받아들여, 학업지연자들에게 해석수준개입을 제공할 경우 ‘목표자기일치감’이 높아지고, 학업지연행동의 개선이 이루어질 것이라 가정하고 개입의 효과검증을 시도하였다. 연구대상은 서울 소재 대학과 대학상담센터, 취업게시판 등에서 공고를 통해 학업지연행동 개선 연구에 관심이 있는 신청자들로, 실험집단은 24명, 대기통제집단 24명이었다. 개입 효과를 평가하기 위하여 목표자기일치감과 학업지연행동 사전점수를 공변인으로 하여 사후점수로 공변량 분석을 실시하였다. 연구 결과 고차원해석 개입을 제공한 집단이 무처치 통제집단보다 목표자기일치감이 통계적으로 유의하게 향상되었으며, 학업지연행동의 개선에도 유의한 변화경향성이 나타났다. 이는 고차원해석개입이 학업지연자의 동기향상 및 실제 학업지연행동을 개선시키는 데에도 영향을 줄 가능성이 있음을 시사한다. 이러한 연구결과를 바탕으로 향후 연구 및 상담과 교육적 조력 방안에 대한 시사점과 제한점을 논의하였다.