Something's got to give: the effects of dual-goal difficulty, goal progress, and expectancies on resource allocation.

The current study developed and tested a model of the interplay among goal difficulty, goal progress, and expectancy over time in influencing resource allocation toward competing demands. The results provided broad support for the theoretical model. As predicted, dual-goal expectancy-the perceived likelihood of meeting both goals in competition-played a central role, moderating the relationship between relative goal progress and resource allocation. Dual-goal difficulty was also found to exert an important influence on multiple-goal self-regulation. Although it did not influence total productivity across both tasks combined, it did combine with other model components to influence the relative emphasis of one task over another. These results suggest that the cumulative demands placed by multiple difficult goals may exceed individuals' perceived capabilities and may lead to partial or total abandonment of 1 goal to ensure attainment of the other. The model helps shed light on some of the conflicting theoretical propositions and empirical results obtained in prior work. Implications for theory and research regarding multiple-goal self-regulation are discussed.

[1]  E. A. Locke,et al.  Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. A 35-year odyssey. , 2002, The American psychologist.

[2]  A. Schmidt,et al.  What to do? The effects of discrepancies, incentives, and time on dynamic goal prioritization. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[3]  W. T. Powers.  Behavior, the control of perception , 1973 .

[4]  E. A. Locke,et al.  Using self-efficacy theory to resolve the conflict between goal-setting theory and expectancy theory in organizational behavior and industrial/organizational psychology. , 1986 .

[5]  Aaron M. Schmidt,et al.  A matter of time: individual differences, contextual dynamics, and goal progress effects on multiple-goal self-regulation. , 2009, The Journal of applied psychology.

[6]  H. Garland,et al.  Relation of effort-performance expectancy to performance in goal-setting experiments. , 1984 .

[7]  Edwin A. Locke,et al.  The Effects of Intra-individual Goal Conflict on Performance , 1994 .

[8]  C. Carver,et al.  Origins and Functions of Positive and Negative Affect: A Control-Process View. , 1990 .

[9]  Sandra P. Marshall,et al.  Individual Differences in Attentional Strategies in Multitasking Situations , 2001 .

[10]  J. B. Vancouver,et al.  The depth of history and explanation as benefit and bane for psychological control theories. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[11]  D. Ilgen,et al.  A Theory of Behavior in Organizations , 1980 .

[12]  M. A. Campion,et al.  A control systems conceptualization of the goal-setting and changing process , 1982 .

[13]  R. DeShon,et al.  A motivated action theory account of goal orientation. , 2005, The Journal of applied psychology.

[14]  H. Garland,et al.  Goal levels and task performance: A compelling replication of some compelling results. , 1982 .

[15]  A. Bandura.  Social cognitive theory of self-regulation☆ , 1991 .

[16]  Akinori Okada,et al.  Mechanism of feedback affecting task performance , 1983 .

[17]  Paul E. Levy,et al.  Moving from Cognition to Action: A Control Theory Perspective , 1994 .

[18]  P. Christopher Earley,et al.  The influence of component participation and role models on goal acceptance, goal satisfaction and performance , 1985 .

[19]  Akinori Okada,et al.  Expectancy theory prediction of the goal theory postulate, "The harder the goals, the higher the performance." , 1981 .

[20]  P. Pintrich,et al.  Handbook of self-regulation , 2000 .

[21]  D. Steele-Johnson,et al.  Goal orientation and task demand effects on motivation, affect, and performance. , 2000, The Journal of applied psychology.

[22]  H. Klein,et al.  An Integrated Control Theory Model of Work Motivation , 1989 .

[23]  A. Tenbrunsel,et al.  Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 2013 .

[24]  G. Northcraft,et al.  Robbing Peter to pay Paul: Feedback environments and enacted priorities in response to competing task demands , 2003 .

[25]  Robert G. Lord,et al.  Effects of valence, expectancies, and goal-performance discrepancies in single and multiple goal environments. , 1990 .

[26]  Klaus-Helmut Schmidt,et al.  Motivational control of motor performance by goal setting in a dual-task situation , 1984 .

[27]  Bernhard Wilpert,et al.  Applied psychology : an international review , 1989 .

[28]  W. V. Eerde,et al.  Vroom's expectancy models and work-related criteria: A meta-analysis , 1996 .

[29]  Allen C. Bluedorn,et al.  Polychronicity and the Inventory of Polychronic Values (IPV): The development of an instrument to measure a fundamental dimension of organizational culture , 1999 .

[30]  A. Bandura,et al.  Self-evaluative and self-efficacy mechanisms governing the motivational effects of goal systems. , 1983 .

[31]  Edwin A. Locke,et al.  Effect of self-efficacy, goals, and task strategies on task performance. , 1984 .

[32]  C. Carver,et al.  On the Self-Regulation of Behavior , 1998 .

[33]  Daniel Gopher,et al.  Effects of goal difficulty, self-set goals, and monetary rewards on dual task performance , 1990 .

[34]  Mark E. Tubbs,et al.  Expectancy, valence, and motivational force functions in goal-setting research: an empirical test , 1993 .

[35]  Jeffrey B. Vancouver,et al.  The Application of HLM to the Analysis of the Dynamic Interaction of Environment, Person and Behavior , 1997 .

[36]  Henry L. Tosi.  A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance , 1991 .

[37]  John G. Lynch,et al.  Resource Slack and Propensity to Discount Delayed Investments of Time Versus Money , 2004, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[38]  E. A. Locke,et al.  A theory of goal setting & task performance , 1990 .

[39]  R. Buehler,et al.  Exploring the "planning fallacy": Why people underestimate their task completion times. , 1994 .

[40]  V. Vroom.  Work and motivation , 1964 .