Reconceptualizing goal setting’s dark side: The ethical consequences of learning versus outcome goals

The Role of Workplace Goal Orientation for Occupational Self-Efficacy and Negative Affect

Abstract. Due to their suggested importance for achievement processes, we experimentally tested which workplace goal orientations (employees’ perception of goal characteristics at work) affect proximal outcomes. In detail, we investigated in an experimental vignette study ( N = 250) how workplace learning, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals influence occupational self-efficacy and negative affect. Furthermore, we examined the potential of workplace goals to act as moderators for the effect of dispositional goals on these outcomes. We found a learning goal-oriented environment leading to higher occupational self-efficacy and less negative affect compared to performance goal-oriented work environments. We found limited evidence for person–situation interactions. Our results extend goal orientation theory by integrating environmental goals at work and provide implications that foster desirable and prevent undesirable outcomes.

Goal Missed, Self Hit: Goal-Setting, Goal-Failure, and Their Affective, Motivational, and Behavioral Consequences

Setting high and specific goals is one of the best-established management tools to increase performance and motivation. However, in recent years, potential downsides of goal-setting are being discussed. One possible downside is the high risk of failing the goal. In an approach to integrate research on the consequences of goal-failure and the basic assumptions of goal-setting theory, we investigated whether failure of a high and specific goal has detrimental effects on a person's affect, self-esteem, and motivation. In Experiment 1, 185 participants received fictitious feedback about attaining or failing an assigned high and specific goal. In Experiment 2 with 86 participants, we manipulated goal-failure through task-difficulty and we included task choice as a behavioral measure of motivation. In both experiments, participants who failed the high and specific goal showed a decrease in affect, self-esteem, and motivation compared to participants who attained that goal. Results indicate that failing a high and specific goal can be damaging for self-related factors that may be crucial for organizational long-term outcomes. We advise organizations to consider potential undesirable effects when using goal-setting interventions.

The Trickle-Down Effect of Authoritarian Leadership on Unethical Employee Behavior: A Cross-Level Moderated Mediation Model

Authoritarian leadership is of great significance to eastern countries, including China. Meanwhile, unethical employee behavior also exists in all types of social organizations. The relationship between authoritarian leadership and unethical employee behavior is worth studying. Senior leaders (managers) often do not have a direct influence on employees except for through their immediate supervisors. The leadership style of senior leaders also influences the leadership style of their subordinates (employees’ direct supervisors). This paper studies how authoritarian manager leadership trickles down to unethical employee behavior through authoritarian supervisor leadership (through social learning theory and ASA theory) and discusses the moderating effect of leader member exchange (LMX) and an ethical climate. Through a questionnaire survey of 406 pairs of leaders, supervisors, and employees, the research results of the multilevel model show that (1) authoritarian supervisor leadership is positively related to unethical employee behavior, (2) authoritarian supervisor leadership mediates the relationship between authoritarian manager leadership and unethical employee behavior, (3) LMX positively moderates the relationship between authoritarian manager leadership and authoritarian supervisor leadership and moderates the mediating effect of authoritarian supervisor leadership, and (4), that an ethical climate negatively moderates the relationship between authoritarian supervisor leadership and unethical employee behavior and moderates the mediating effect of authoritarian supervisor leadership.

Achievement Goals and Goal Progress as Drivers of Work Engagement

In two studies, we investigated the role of self-regulatory behavior in terms of achievement goals and goal progress for work engagement. Study 1 (N = 205) revealed that trait learning goals were positively related to work engagement and performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals were unrelated to work engagement. In a second study, employees were asked to either set a (state) learning, performance-approach, or performance-avoidance goal for the upcoming work week. Goal progress and work engagement were measured one week later (N = 106). Learning goals at the trait and state level were associated with higher work engagement and performance-avoidance goals were unrelated to work engagement. We found a positive relationship of goal progress with work engagement, in particular for employees who pursued learning or performance-approach goals. Our studies contribute to theory building by delineating the (combined) role of goal orientations (trait), state achievement goals, and goal progress for work engagement, as well as generating practical implications for the design of effective interventions to enhance work motivation in organizational practice.

Limited reliability of experts' assessment of telephone triage in primary care patients with chest discomfort

OBJECTIVE

Root cause analyses of serious adverse events (SAE) in out-of-hours primary care (OHS-PC) often point to errors in telephone triage. Such analyses are, however, hampered by hindsight bias. We assessed whether experts, blinded to the outcome, recognize (un)safety of triage of patients with chest discomfort, and we quantified inter-rater reliability.

STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING

This is a case-control study with triage recordings from 2013-2017 at OHS-PC. Cases were missed acute coronary syndromes (ACSs, considered as SAE). These cases were age- and gender-matched 1:8 with the controls, sampled from the remainder of people calling for chest discomfort. Fifteen experts listened to the recordings and rated the safety of triage. We calculated sensitivity and specificity of recognizing an ACS and the intraclass correlation.

RESULTS

In total, 135 calls (15 SAE, 120 matched controls) were relistened. The experts identified ACSs with a sensitivity of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.71-0.95) and a specificity of 0.51 (95% CI: 0.43-0.58). Cases were rated significantly more often as unsafe than the controls (73.3% vs. 22.5%, P < 0.001). The inter-rater reliability for safety was poor: ICC 0.16 (95% CI: 0.00-0.32).

CONCLUSIONS

Blinded experts rated calls of missed ACSs more often as unsafe than matched control calls, but with a low level of agreement among the experts.