The Effect of Goal Conflict on Performance

The authors investigated the motivational effects of goal conflict in a complex goal performance setting. Goal conflict was found to have an indirect influence on performance through its relationship with goal commitment. Goal conflict was negatively associated with goal commitment when controlling for the other antecedents, including expectancy, self-efficacy, and need for achievement. As predicted, goal commitment and self-efficacy were related to goal-directed behaviors and goal-directed behaviors were related to performance. Performance was positively related to positive outcome emotions and negatively related to negative outcome emotions. The authors discuss the implications for the professional practitioner, theory development, and future research.

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