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This study was designed to determine the effect that goals have on performance and the effect that performance has on reported levels of satisfaction in a competitively structured task. The results of this study give strong evidence to Locke's theory (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1969, 4, 566-574) that the most immediate, direct motivational determinant of task performance is the subject's goal, and to Ilgen and Hamstra's theory (Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1972, 7, 359-370) that satisfaction with one's performance is a function of the difference between actual performance and performance goals, and also a function of the difference between actual performance and performance of a reference person. Satisfaction and performance were found to be strongly related only up to the point where a person exceeds his goal or his reference person's outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance decrements and dissatisfactions at the work place have long been observed but have not been adequately explained. Activation research and selected studies of work behavior are reviewed to show that decrements in performance may be better understood in the light of recent neuro-psychological findings. This review indicates that activation theory and the research upon which it is based anticipates behavior related to variations in task design and suggests new avenues of investigation for those interested in the determinants of work behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]