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Goals, Strategies, and Group Performance: Some Limits of Goal Setting in Groups.
- Source :
-
Small Group Research . Oct2010, Vol. 41 Issue 5, p524-555. 32p. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Based on Mitchell and Silver's (1990) tower-building paradigm, the authors performed two experiments on multilevel quantity goals, strategies, and performance in task-interdependent groups. The study compared four goal types: IG (individual goal), GG (group goal), IG + GG (individual + group goal), and NSG (nonspecific goal). IG yielded low cooperation and performance, whereas, unexpectedly, NSG yielded high cooperation and performance. To explain this finding, we discerned two goal-setting components: Goal referent (performance-level targeted; individual/group) and goal specificity. Mediation analyses suggest that referent triggers a cooperation/competition mechanism, explaining the lower IG performance, whereas specificity triggers a speed/ accuracy mechanism, explaining the higher NSG performance. We conclude that individual goals can interfere with cooperative processes and group performance, and, for time-constrained interdependent tasks requiring speed and accuracy, specific difficult quantity goals may promote risk taking, thereby obstructing goal attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10464964
- Volume :
- 41
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Small Group Research
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 53744490
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1046496410373628