MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING AND AFFECT: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY Cecile K. Cho Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3266556 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3266556 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ©2007 Cecile K. Cho All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING AND AFFECT: EXPECTATIONS AND REALITY Cecile K. Cho People often set low goals in order to avoid future disappointment. This dissertation questions the assumption that future affect can be managed in this manner. This strategy can work only if performance is compared to the initially set goals. We argue that performance potential is instead spontaneously evoked at the time of performance feedback and used as the benchmark instead of goals. Even when goals are met, this comparison results in lower levels of satisfaction and greater disappointment when goals are set low vs. high. When performance falls short of initial goal, the default comparison appears to be to the initial goal, such that the resulting contrast exerts a downward pressure on satisfaction for both high and low goal setters. Contrary to people’s assumption, however, satisfaction with achieving one’s low goal was not any higher than falling short of one’s high expectation, even when objectively, the outcome was superior in the former. This dissertation holds four main theoretical contributions. First and foremost, it shows that people’s intuition about managing their future satisfaction by strategically lowering their expectation and goals at present is misguided, if not counterproductive. Second, it shows that setting low expectation exerts a negative influence on one’s satisfaction with the outcome, even when the outcome meets the Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. expectation. Third, satisfaction with confirmed low expectation exerts a negative influence on satisfaction even when compared to disconfirmed high expectation. Lastly, the proposed comparison mechanism, whereby expectation is not recruited as a benchmark to evaluate the outcome but rather a higher comparison standard is recruited instead, contributes to the satisfaction literature’s conceptualization of multiple comparison standards. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1............................................................................................................................V INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................1 Organization of the Dissertation............................................................................................................................................3 CHAPTER 2.............................................................................................................................4 GOAL SETTING—A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK..............................................4 Goals, a brief summary....................................................................................................................................................................4 Organizational theory of goal setting...............................................................................................4 Assigned vs. self-set goals..................................................................................................................5 Antecedents of setting low goals..........................................................................................................................................6 Antecedents to motivated goal standard—Achievement Motive................................................................7 Expectancy of success.......................................................................................................................8 Regulatory Focus Theory...................................................................................................................9 Anticipated emotion............................................................................................................................................................................9 Affective forecasting........................................................................................................................11 Defensive pessimism and self-handicapping...................................................................................11 CHAPTER 3...........................................................................................................................13 CONSEQUENCES OF MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING ON SATISFACTION.... 13 Satisfaction.............................................................................................................................................................................................14 Expectancy-Disconfirmation Model...................................................................................................................................14 Comparison standards in satisfaction research...............................................................................15 Multiple comparison standards.......................................................................................................17 Single comparison standard—Reference price literature........................................................................25 Counterfactual thinking..................................................................................................................26 Goal vs. Expectations......................................................................................................................21 CHAPTER 4..........................................................................................................................23 EXPERIMENT 1: ANTECEDENTS AND CONSEQUENCES OF MOTIVATED GOAL SETTING..................................................................................................................23 Overview...................................................................................................................................................................................................23 Background and hypotheses.....................................................................................................................................................23 Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................25 i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................25 Results.......................................................................................................................................................................................................27 Antecedents to goal setting.............................................................................................................27 Consequences of goal setting on satisfaction..................................................................................28 Effort................................................................................................................................................30 Perceived goal level.........................................................................................................................31 Goal at T2........................................................................................................................................32 Regression analyses........................................................................................................................................................................33 Satisfaction as mediator to T2-goal................................................................................................33 Discussion.................................................................................................................................................................................................33 CHAPTER 5...........................................................................................................................35 EXPERIMENT 2: COUNTERPRODUCTIVE CONSESQUENCE OF LOW­ BALLED EXPECTATION CONTROLLING FOR PERFORMANCE......................35 Overview...................................................................................................................................................................................................35 Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................36 Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................36 Results.......................................................................................................................................................................................................38 Antecedents of goal setting.............................................................................................................38 Consequence on satisfaction...........................................................................................................38 Regression analyses........................................................................................................................................................................40 Discussion.................................................................................................................................................................................................40 CHAPTER 6...........................................................................................................................42 EXPERIMENT 3: NEGATIVE IMPACT OF LOW-BALLING OF EXPECTATION—COUNTERFACTUALS OR SHIFTING COMPARISON STANDARD?........................................................................................................................42 Overview...................................................................................................................................................................................................42 Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................43 Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................43 Results.......................................................................................................................................................................................................45 Antecedents to goal setting.............................................................................................................45 Consequence on satisfaction...........................................................................................................45 Potential [Range] salience.............................................................................................................45 Belief in effort-performance relationship.......................................................................................46 Regression analysis.........................................................................................................................................................................48 ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 48 Discussion CHAPTER 7...........................................................................................................................50 EXPERIMENT 4: COMPARING CONFIRMED LOW GOAL STANDARD TO DISCONFIRMED HIGH GOAL STANDARD..............................................................50 Overview....................................................................................................................................................................................................50 Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................50 Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................51 Results........................................................................................................................................................................................................52 Confirmed low vs. disconfirmed high goals....................................................................................52 Information at feedback..................................................................................................................53 CHAPTER 8...........................................................................................................................56 EXPERIMENT 5: CORRECTING THE LOW-BALLING OF GOALS..................56 Overview....................................................................................................................................................................................................56 Experimental Design........................................................................................................................................................................56 Stimuli and Procedure....................................................................................................................................................................57 Results........................................................................................................................................................................................................58 Correlates of Goal Setting: Individual Differences............................................................................................59 Experiment 1....................................................................................................................................59 Experiments 2 and 3........................................................................................................................60 Open-ended Thoughts.....................................................................................................................................................................60 CHAPTER 9...........................................................................................................................61 GENERAL DISCUSSION..................................................................................................61 Perceived control and expertise......................................................................................................63 Task difficulty and desirability of outcome.....................................................................................64 Goals as reference points.................................................................................................................................................71 CHAPTER 10........................................................................................................................68 FUTURE DIRECTIONS....................................................................................................68 Limitations...............................................................................................................................................................................................69 TABLES.................................................................................................................................71 REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................91 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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APPENDICES—PROCEDURES AND STIMULI 98 APPENDIX 1: EXPERIMENT 1 PROCEDURES......................................................................................................98 APPENDIX 2: EXPERIMENT 2 PROCEDURES......................................................................................................99 APPENDIX 3: EXPERIMENT 3 PROCEDURES....................................................................................................100 APPENDIX 4: EXPERIMENT 4 PROCEDURES....................................................................................................101 APPENDIX 5: EXPERIMENT 5 PROCEDURES....................................................................................................102 APPENDIX 6A—STIMULI...........................................................................................................................................103 EXPERIMENT 1—PART 1 [ANTICIPATE REPEAT DECISION CONDITION]..........................................103 APPENDIX 6B—STIMULI............................................................................................................................................104 EXPERIMENT 1—PART 1 [NO-ANTICIPATE CONDITION]..........................................................................104 APPENDIX 6C—STIMULI...........................................................................................................................................111 EXPERIMENT 1—PART 2: GOAL AND RANGE AT FEEDBACK CONDITION.......................................111 APPENDIX 6D-STIMULI...............................................................................................113 EXPERIMENT 1—PART 2: PERFORMANCE ONLY AT FEEDBACK CONDITION........................................................................................................................113 TASK 2: ANAGRAM........................................................................................................122 TASK 2: ANAGRAM.........................................................................................................123 APPENDIX 8....................................................................................................................................................................142 EXPERIMENT 3-STIMULI........................................................................................................................................142 APPENDIX 8A:...............................................................................................................................................................155 STUDY 5 READING TASK—CORRECTIVE CONDITION..............................................................................155 APPENDIX 8B:................................................................................................................................................................156 STUDY 5 READING TASK -DISAPPOINTMENT CONDITION.....................................................................156 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing this dissertation would not have materialized without the constant support and guidance of my advisor Gita Johar. Undoubtedly she has been central to my development as a doctoral student and will continue to be my role model for the kind of researcher I aspire to be. On a personal level, I am deeply grateful for the generous time and care she has provided over the years, and for what sometimes seemed to be undeserved. She certainly has been, and will continue to be, a great source of my intellectual and personal inspiration. I am extremely grateful to Don Lehmann and Ran Kivetz for their warm encouragements and guidance over the years. Likewise, I would like to thank my other committee members Peter Gollwitzer and Ravi Dhar for their valuable comments and input during the final stage of my dissertation. I would also like to thank other faculty members who have provided continued support and input towards my progress, especially Michel Pham and Morris Holbrook for their insightful feedback during the initial part of my dissertation and thereafter. I also thank Natalie Mizik and Jonathan Levav for their lighthearted support over the years, and Leonard Lee who has generously provided valuable guidance and friendship during the final stage of my years at Columbia. I am also grateful for the warm support I have received from Asim Ansari, Bemd Schmitt, Kamel Jedidi and Rajeev Kohli. I owe a special gratitude to Anirban Mukhopadhyay who has contributed invaluably to my development during my earlier years at Columbia and has continued to be incredibly generous with his help ever since; and to Martin Zemborain for his unfailingly candid and warm-hearted friendship. My often long hours in the fifth floor of v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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