Premium
Regulatory focus as a mediator in goal orientation and performance relationships
Author(s) -
Johnson Paul D.,
Shull Amanda,
Wallace J. Craig
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of organizational behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.938
H-Index - 177
eISSN - 1099-1379
pISSN - 0894-3796
DOI - 10.1002/job.701
Subject(s) - regulatory focus theory , goal orientation , task (project management) , focus (optics) , promotion (chess) , psychology , goal pursuit , goal setting , cognitive psychology , orientation (vector space) , mediator , field (mathematics) , social psychology , political science , management , economics , medicine , physics , geometry , mathematics , politics , creativity , law , optics , pure mathematics
Chosen goals influence the outcomes a person achieves as well as the behaviors performed to achieve those outcomes. In this study, we propose that three forms of goal orientation: learning, performance‐prove, and performance‐avoid, (VandeWalle, 1997) relate to performance, with learning and performance‐prove relating to performance through regulatory foci of prevention and promotion, respectively. Regulatory focus, a type of self‐regulation, entails the implementation of specific strategies in pursuit of goals and thus gives us insight to how a person pursues a chosen goal. In a combination of laboratory and field studies, we examine the role of regulatory focus as a mediator between goal orientation and task performance. We find evidence that regulatory focus strategies differentially mediate the goal orientation/task performance relationship. Theoretical ramifications for these relationships, as well as practical implications, are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.