Goal Conflict Research Articles

Psychological barriers in children: an exploratory study on Dengue transmission using an adapted DIPB scale

Dengue is an arboviral infection found in tropical and subtropical regions transmitted by hematophagous mosquitoes from the genus Aedes spp. and responsible for millions of cases every year. Public campaigns and educational curriculum are designed to educate people, including children. However, what has been reported is that many decide not to follow these guidelines, even though they allegedly know what has to be done. To understand this phenomenon, this study aims to identify psychological barriers behind the adoption of pro-environmental behaviors that seek to reduce Aedes aegypti’s population. For that, middle school students participated on two studies responsible for (1) adapting the Dragons of Inaction Psychological Barrier (DIPB) scale to the target group (n = 150) and then (2) testing it on a larger group (n = 449). In the exploratory factor analysis, Bartlett correlation (p < 0.001), Cronbach’s alpha (0.83), and KMO analysis (overall MSA = 0.84) showed that data was suited for factor analysis. Five factors were retained by Kaiser Criterion and scree test (i.e., Conflicting goals and unnecessary changes—α 0.76, Interpersonal relations—α 0.72, Conflicting goals and lacking knowledge—α 0.58, Tokenism—α 0.73, and Tokenism toward the government—α 0.66). After that, the scale was tested across 11 different schools, where students also answered a questionnaire about the mosquito. Results suggested that the factors Conflicting goals and lacking knowledge and Tokenism toward the government presented a higher level of agreement for all students (means: 2.6 and 2.12 out of five, respectively). Those who scored higher in the mosquito’s questionnaire had factors Conflicting goals and unnecessary change and Interpersonal relations inhibited when compared to others (p < 0.05). These results suggests that future educational campaigns should build different actions that focuses on addressing both internal and external factors, creating a mosaic of projects, with different goals, each aiming different environmental challenges.

EXPRESS: Unpacking the Role of Ethical Leadership in the Era of Sustainable Development Goals and Values-based Marketing

Tackling sustainable development goals (SDGs) has become a key strategic marketing activity for multinational enterprises (MNEs) to build their reputation and ensure their brand value. However, SDGs can cause goal conflicts for MNEs, resulting in firms not being equally responsive to all stakeholders. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how ethical leadership, underpinned by a corporate purpose, enables MNEs to pursue SDGs in foreign markets. The researchers argued that ethical leadership based on a corporate purpose can provide strategic direction for MNEs, thus enabling them to focus on selected SDGs that can be integrated into their values-based marketing agendas. Further, the findings revealed that a corporate purpose can offer consistency and perseverance in the exertion of ethical leadership at the local market level; however, ethical leadership may require organizational members to disassociate from structural inconsistencies and goal conflicts in pursuit of aspired SDGs. Thus, the study makes a significant contribution to the literature on international marketing by adopting an ethical perspective to explain how MNEs can strategically position themselves in relation to SDGs in international markets. The findings suggest that ethical leadership can build a foundation for credible marketing communication while serving as a driver of values-based marketing programs.

Creating a Culture of Leadership in Physical Education: Strategies for Empowering Student Athletes

The objective of this research was to analyze the leadership abilities of student-athletes and determine the efficacy of leadership development programs used by schools in the field of physical education and sports. The study included a cohort of student-athletes from five universities in Hunan Province, classified according to their gender and participating sport. A custom-designed questionnaire, verified for its reliability and clarity, was used to collect data on the perceived leadership abilities in six specific areas: goal setting, communication, motivation, decision-making, adaptability, and conflict resolution. The results indicated that the general leadership abilities of student-athletes were assessed as "less apparent," with notable variations in perception depending on gender and sport. Specifically, male players and those participating in tennis reported having superior leadership capabilities. Furthermore, the research revealed that the efficacy of schools' leadership development initiatives, such as education and training, mentorship programs, team-building activities, leadership opportunities, community involvement, and cultural and diversity awareness, was generally assessed as "not effectively executed." Substantial variations in these evaluations were also seen depending on gender and sport, underscoring possible program structure and availability discrepancies. A robust positive correlation was found between student-athletes' perceived leadership abilities and the efficacy of leadership development initiatives, suggesting that effectively designed programs may significantly augment leadership capabilities.

Paradoxes in work-related learning—and how they are perceived by practitioners

This article in the journal “Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation (GIO)” theoretically and empirically examines potential paradoxes in work-related learning. Organizations are full of paradoxical situations that also affect work-related learning. Based on three forms of work-related learning (i.e., formal, informal, and self-regulated learning) and three learning-relevant dimensions of organizational goal conflicts (i.e., stability vs. change, exploration vs. exploitation, and short-term vs. long-term), nine work-related learning tensions are described that can lead to paradoxical situations. Using survey data of 113 experts from the field, these tensions were evaluated according to their frequency in everyday organizational life and their perceived contradictory nature. The findings show that there are many frequently occurring but less contradictory tensions and some very contradictory but rarely occurring tensions. Implications of the results are discussed.

Potential and goal conflicts in reverse auction design for bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS)

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is considered as a future key technology to provide baseload electricity, heat, pulp, paper, and biofuels, while also enabling atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Sweden seeks to lead the way in bringing this technology up to scale, introducing a EUR 3.6 billion reverse auction scheme to facilitate market entry of companies producing BECCS. We explore instrument design preferences among politicians, regulators, and prospective BECCS operators to identify trade-offs and explore feasible policy design. Based on 35 interviews with experts in the latent BECCS sector in Sweden, we identify under which circumstances prospective operators would be willing to place bids and discuss how actor preferences both align with and challenge auction theory. The analysis concludes that at least four dilemmas need attention. These concerns how to: (1) balance the state’s demand for BECCS to be implemented already in 2030 against the prospective BECCS operators’ fear of the winner’s curse, i.e., a fear of bidding for a contract that turns out to be too costly to implement; (2) allocate contracts at the margin of the auctioneer’s demand for BECCS without driving up costs; (3) design compliance mechanism to achieve effectiveness without undermining efficiency, and; 4) integrate the auction with the voluntary carbon market—if at all—in a manner that safeguards the environmental integrity of the auctions.

Women Hold Up the Shattering Sky? Performance Feedback on Multiple Conflicting Goals and Women’s Representation in Top Management Teams in the Public Sector

Women Hold Up the Shattering Sky? Performance Feedback on Multiple Conflicting Goals and Women’s Representation in Top Management Teams in the Public Sector

Multiple Goal Conflicts and Innovation at Frontline: Does Alignment Help or Hurt?

Multiple Goal Conflicts and Innovation at Frontline: Does Alignment Help or Hurt?

How to Promote Walking in Women with Fibromyalgia: A Look at Catastrophizing, Goal Conflict, and Avoidance from a Self-Emotional Regulatory Perspective.

The aim of this study was twofold: to explore the concordance between two measures of physical activity (accelerometer and IPAQ) among female fibromyalgia (FM) patients, as well as to examine the impact of psychosocial variables (catastrophism, activity avoidance) on walking among these patients. Helplessness, activity avoidance, and commitment to physical activity were evaluated in 132 FM women. After the first assessment, an accelerometer was placed by a psychologist on each participant for seven consecutive days. Eight days later, accelerometers were collected, and participants were evaluated again using the IPAQ. Two models were tested to analyze mediation and a moderated mediation effect. The mediating role of activity avoidance between helplessness and minutes walked was corroborated regarding the objective measure of walking. The effect of helplessness on minutes walked during a week was mediated by activity avoidance and assessed by accelerometers. Cognitive variables played a contextual role when trying to promote exercise. Activity avoidance must be understood as a key variable in physical activity promotion, specifically in the promotion of walking with the aim to do exercise in individuals with FM.

Does management make a difference in goal conflict? Evidence from South Korea

ABSTRACT Theoretical discussions have emphasized the role of public management, and evidence from various contexts globally supports the idea that public managers must cope with competing and conflicting goals. This study empirically tested the hypothetical relationships between goal conflict and management using a multiyear, large-N dataset. The research setting was the relationship between teaching and research goals in Korean higher education institutions, a well-known case of goal conflict in the literature on both public management and higher education. The results show that teaching performance is positively associated with research performance if the university has high-performing management; otherwise, the two performance indicators can be negatively associated with each other. The results demonstrate that management plays a significant role in the relationship between teaching and research performance. Future studies are expected to comprehensively test the management – goal conflict link.

Too amused to stop? Self-control and the disengagement process on Netflix

Abstract Consuming media entertainment often challenges recipients’ self-control. While past research related self-control almost exclusively to whether individuals engage in media use, it might be equally relevant for the disengagement from media use. Testing core assumptions of the Appraisal of Media Use, Self-Control, and Entertainment (AMUSE) model, the present study investigates the situational interplay of self-control and affective appraisals in predicting disengagement from Netflix use. Preregistered hypotheses were tested based on an event-contingent experience sampling design, in which 205 adult Netflix users in the Netherlands and Germany were tracked and surveyed for two weeks. Results demonstrate that disengagement is contingent upon enjoyment and appreciation and that enjoyment, in turn, can be “spoiled” by feeling guilty. Self-control influenced goal conflict and enjoyment throughout the reception process. We discuss opportunities for modeling disengagement from media use with situational research approaches.

Virtual active sports: identifying main barriers and facilitators for casual fitness fans

PurposeThe aim of this study is to utilise the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) to identify the main barriers and facilitators of positive attitude towards trying Virtual Active Sports (VAS).Design/methodology/approach200 individuals took part in an online cross-sectional survey based on 11 domains within the TDF. Linear logistic regression analysis was performed on the participant’s self-reported attitudes and believes. Based on the results from the regression analyses, a list of suggested behaviour change techniques was designed using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) framework and the BCT taxonomy (BCTTv1).FindingsThis research suggested that Beliefs about Consequences, Beliefs about Capabilities, Goal Conflict, Coping Planning, and Environmental Context and Resources are the main factors, influencing the positive attitude towards VAS and the self-reported desire to try it in the future. Future interventions were recommended and supported by 22 possible BCTs identified using the BCW approach. The TDF and BCW proved to be useful models for identifying both internal and external factors influencing fitness fans during the adoption of the new sportstech.Originality/valueThe main contribution of the present work was the implementation of a structured and effective approach derived from the healthcare domain to design solutions for behaviour change in the emerging and expanding virtual sports context.

What makes randomized controlled trials so successful—for now? Or, on the consonances, compromises, and contradictions of a global interstitial field

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are a major success story, promising to improve science and policy. Despite some controversy, RCTs have spread toward Northern and Southern countries since the early 2000s. How so? Synthesizing previous research on this question, this article argues that favorable institutional conditions turned RCTs into “hinges” between the fields of science, politics, and business. Shifts toward behavioral economics, New Public Management, and evidence-based philanthropic giving led to a cross-fertilization among efforts in rich and poor countries, involving states, international organizations, NGOs, researchers, and philanthropic foundations. This confluence of favorable institutional conditions and savvy social actors established a “global interstitial field” inside which support for RCTs has developed an unprecedented scope, influence, operational capacity, and professional payoff. However, the article further argues that the hinges holding together this global interstitial field are “squeaky” at best. Because actors inherit the illusio of their respective fields of origin—their central incentives and stakes—the interstitial field produces constant goal conflicts. Cooperation between academics and practitioners turns out to be plagued by tensions and contradictions. Based on this analysis, the article concludes that the global field of RCT support will probably differentiate into its constituent parts. As a result, RCTs may lose the special status they have gained among social science and policy evaluation methods, turning into one good technique among others.

Tasty or sustainable? Goal conflict in plant-based food choice

Marketers and policymakers navigate an evolving landscape where an increasing number of consumers are willing to consider the environmental impacts of meat consumption and shift towards plant-based proteins. This trend is exemplified by the increasing number of individuals who identify as flexitarians, preferring plant-forward diets though still consuming meat. Nevertheless, consumers juggle the conflicting desire for healthy and sustainable choices with the enjoyment of tasty food, which varies across contexts. Consequently, determining the appropriate framing for plant-based meat alternatives — when to emphasize health and sustainability or taste — poses a challenge not adequately addressed by previous research. This study delves into the nuanced impact of modifying goal salience by tailoring product attribute frames to align with contextual consumer goals, offering insights into engaging consumers with plant-based alternatives. These findings reveal that aligning a hedonic attribute frame with an active hedonic goal significantly enhances product engagement. Conversely, introducing a sustainability attribute frame in the presence of an active hedonic goal adversely influences taste expectations, leading to a decline in intentions to engage with the product. These insights offer valuable guidance for navigating the complexities of sustainable food choices and underscore the need to align messaging strategies with consumers’ active goals.

A Systematic Review of Coaching Skills Among Administrators in Universities

This systematic review examines the coaching skills of university administrators and their impact on faculty job satisfaction. The primary goal of the study is to identify crucial coaching skills, examine their impact on job satisfaction, and emphasize the most successful practices for improving coaching effectiveness. The main research problem aims to gain a thorough grasp of coaching dynamics in higher education situations. The study utilizes a methodical approach of reviewing existing literature, adhering to the PRISMA principles. It examines a total of 38 papers published between 2004 and 2024. Effective communication is the most researched skill, according to key findings; goal setting, emotional intelligence, feedback mechanisms, and conflict resolution follow accordingly. Theoretical implications are consistent with Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory and Transformational Leadership Theory, which prioritize interpersonal relationships, recognition, responsibility, and feedback as key factors in promoting job satisfaction. The practical implications highlight the worldwide significance of coaching skills and the necessity of ongoing professional development for administrators. The study's significance is centered on providing information that can guide decision-making and actions in institutions around the world, promoting a culture of working together, creativity, and organizational efficiency.

Thinking of food: The mental representation of healthy foods as unprepared

We find that people implicitly and explicitly represent healthy foods they categorize as healthy in their purest, least prepared forms but represent foods they categorize as unhealthy in their most prepared forms (e.g., a veggie patty is represented as frozen while a beef burger is represented in a bun with melted cheese and ready to eat). We find this effect across several studies using both image and word sorting measures in explicit tasks and implicit association tasks. The effect results from the perception of health and taste as two conflicting goals. Preparation (e.g., cooking, adding toppings) makes food more delicious, which creates categorization ambiguity. Hence, healthy food is thought of as unprepared. Indeed, individual differences in perceived health-taste goal conflict moderate the effect. Critically, the representation of healthy foods matters for food decisions. In an experiment that manipulated the descriptive language on a restaurant menu, emphasizing the preparation of foods increased participants’ preference for healthy foods (with no improvement for unhealthy foods).

Self-regulation and conflict goals management capabilities of ecosystem entrepreneurs: a case study of Haier ecosystem.

The inherent dual roles of "follower" and "leader" among ecosystem entrepreneurs inevitably introduce challenges in managing conflicting dependent and independent goals. Ecosystem entrepreneurs' capabilities in conflict goals management directly influence new venture survival and development. This single-case qualitative study explores how ecosystem entrepreneurs develop conflict goals management capabilities through self-regulation, which is not only a unique practical challenge in ecosystem entrepreneurship, but also a cutting-edge topic in current theoretical research. Through research of entrepreneurs in Haier Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, the paper finds: (1) strategic corresponding and mechanism adapting emerge as the two trigger factors enabling ecosystem entrepreneurs to recognize the equilibrium or disequilibrium between conflicting goals; (2) by leveraging self-control, grit, and metacognition, ecosystem entrepreneurs construct decoupling mechanisms for antagonistic goal recognition and coupling mechanisms for synergistic goal recognition; (3) ecosystem entrepreneurs enhance their conflict goals management capabilities by developing both segregative and synergistic management capabilities. Furthermore, this research explores the self-regulation process underlying ecosystem entrepreneurs' conflict goals management behaviors, including environmental interaction perception, conflict goals analysis, and delineation of goal relationships. Findings provide insights for ecosystem entrepreneurs on improving their conflict goals management capabilities through self-assessment and skill development.

Examination of associations between psychopathy and neural reinforcement sensitivity theory constructs.

We investigated psychopathy from the neurobiological perspective of reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST). In contrast to previous semantically derived self-report scales, we operationalised RST systems neurally with evoked electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were from a community sample weighted towards externalising psychopathology. We compared the Carver & White Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioural Approach System (BAS) scales with EEG responses associated with RST's systems of goal conflict (aka 'behavioural inhibition'), repulsion/outcome conflict (aka 'fight/flight/freeze') and attraction (aka 'approach'). Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analysis yielded results generally consistent with past literature for associations between psychopathy and the self-report BIS/BAS scales. There were some differences from self-report associations with neural measures of RST. With EEG measures, (1) no meaningful associations were observed between any psychopathy scales and the attraction system; (2) affective-interpersonal traits of psychopathy were negatively associated with goal conflict; (3) disinhibition-behavioural traits of psychopathy were negatively associated with goal conflict but, unexpectedly, positively associated with outcome conflict. These results indicate frontal-temporal-limbic circuit dysfunction in psychopathy as specific domains were linked to neural deficits in goal conflict processing, but there was no evidence for deficits in attraction-related processes.

Social sustainability for whom? The role of discursive boundary objects in Swedish strategic urban planning

This paper provides further understanding of how social sustainability functions as a discursive boundary object, by exploring how it is artefactually anchored during the planning process, and how this anchoring affects the discourse of social sustainability. This is explored in a Swedish strategic planning project – the RiverCity in Gothenburg – where social sustainability is the desired policy objective. This paper traces how the discourse of social sustainability shifted during the planning process (2012–2019) and shows how social sustainability contains two levels of meaning, substantives aspects of what a socially sustainable city is and procedural of how to achieve it. The substantive level functions as a boundary object between policy areas, however, the procedural level leads to goal conflicts when it is translated and artefactually anchored by different municipal departments. The findings show how the conflicts between different translations of social sustainability change the discourse over time without changing the phrasing of the first level of meaning. This finding shows that 1) while the core idea persists different translations lead to different artefactual anchoring, 2) which shows a mismatch between long-term socioeconomic goals and short-term financial goals for social sustainability, and 3) risks the concept being hijacked.

Abandonment or biomass production? Phytodiversity responses to land-use changes of semi-natural grasslands in northern Europe

European semi-natural grasslands are hotspots for biodiversity and important for the provisioning of multiple ecosystem services, but their extent has declined considerably during the past century. Increasing demands for agricultural and forest biomass risk causing further loss of grasslands, raising concern about a goal conflict between climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. This study focused on the loss of semi-natural grasslands in a mixed farm-forest landscape in southern Sweden by comparing plant diversity in grasslands with continuous grazing regimes to recently abandoned grasslands, improved grasslands (sown leys), and afforested grasslands. Compared to actively grazed grasslands, grasslands where grazing had been abandoned showed a lower plant species richness and fewer plant species of conservation concern, but similar species composition. In contrast, both improved and afforested grasslands showed >50 % lower species richness than abandoned and grazed grasslands, with profoundly different species composition. The dissimilarity in plant diversity between sites was primarily driven by the replacement of species (turnover), and trait-based analyses indicated that environmental filtering of light, management, and nutrient requirements of plants shaped the community differences. Furthermore, an increased cover of semi-natural grassland around the sites positively related to plant species richness and diversity, while an increased cropland coverage around the sites showed a negative relationship. Our results emphasize the importance of integrated land-use strategies that prioritize biodiversity conservation in mixed farm-forest landscapes, such as restoration of semi-natural grasslands and strategic planning of biomass production to avoid serious biodiversity losses.

Can mothers avoid guilt about their smartphone usage behavior? Effects of the availability norm and goal conflict on guilt, recovery, and accomplishment experiences

Balancing everyday tasks with the expectations of others regarding one's availability via smartphone is a challenge, especially for mothers. This research replicated and further developed studies by Halfmann and colleagues in 2021 and 2024 that yielded contradictory results regarding the conditions of feelings of guilt about (not) using the smartphone. More specifically, we investigated how smartphone-related goal conflict, the availability norm, and the parental phone use norm are related to mothers’ feelings of guilt when completing non-stressful everyday tasks. In addition, we researched how smartphone-related goal conflict and guilt are linked with experiences of recovery and task accomplishment. Results from a preregistered experience sampling study among 227 mothers of young children were largely in line with our hypotheses. They revealed, among others, that frequent smartphone use was more strongly linked with guilt when mothers perceived high goal conflict. If the availability norm was salient, little smartphone use was associated with more guilt. The results also indicated that the availability norm partly legitimized frequent smartphone use despite goal conflict. Nevertheless, overall, the findings suggest that mothers tend to experience low levels of guilt about their smartphone usage behavior and that these feelings do not impair the recovery from tasks.