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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THE EFFECT OF GOAL CONFLICT ON PERFORMANCE

Motivation continues to be an important issue to managers and researchers. In the motivation literature, goal theory has emerged as one of the most valid approaches to understanding the process of motivation (Austin and Vancouver, 1996). The core finding of goal-setting research is that under certain conditions, specific, difficult goals lead to higher levels of performance than easy goals or vague goals (Locke and Latham, 1990). One of the most frequently cited conditions necessary for the goal-performance relationship is that individuals must possess the requisite commitment to achieving the goal. In short, no motivational effects will occur from goal-setting, if there is no commitment to the goal.

Goal commitment represents a person's attachment to or determination to reach a goal (Locke, Latham, and Erez, 1988), embodying both the strength of one's intention to reach a goal and the unwillingness to abandon or lower a goal over time. Two reviews (Hollenbeck and Klein, 1987; Locke, Latham, and Erez, 1989) highlight the central importance of goal commitment in the goal-setting process. Locke and Latham (1990) point out that goal commitment's impact on the goal-setting process is reduced when goal conflict is present. However, the few research studies dealing with goal conflict have evidenced consistent results. In addition only one study (Locke, Smith, Erez, Chah, and Schaffer, 1994) directly measured goal conflict.

The purpose of this research is to explore how goal conflict is related to goal commitment and performance. We explore this issue in the context of a longitudinal, field study. As is common in many organizational settings, participants in the study are asked to juggle their time to meet multiple, competing performance goals, including family-work tradeoffs. In a complex situation, goal commitment is hypothesized to influence performance indirectly through the mediation of goal-directed behavior. Lastly, we also examine the emotional consequences of performance.