Performance goals as determinants of level of performance and boredom

Abstract

2 PILOT STUDIES AND 4 EXPERIMENTS ARE REPORTED DEALING WITH THE RELATIONSHIP OF PERFORMANCE GOALS TO LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE AND DEGREE OF BOREDOM OR INTEREST IN THE TASK. TASKS USED INCLUDED SIMPLE ADDITION, PERCEPTUAL SPEED, AND PSYCHOMOTOR COORDINATION. TRIAL TIMES RANGED FROM 2 MIN-2 HR. IN THE 2 PILOT STUDIES POSTEXPERIMENTAL GOAL DESCRIPTIONS WERE SIGNIFICANTLY RELATED TO PERFORMANCE LEVEL, AND SS INDICATED THAT TRYING FOR A SPECIFIC GOAL OR SCORE WAS THE MAJOR SOURCE OF TASK INTEREST. IN THE 4 EXPERIMENTS A SPECIFIC HARD GOAL LED TO A HIGHER LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE AND MORE TASK INTEREST THAN A GOAL OF "DO YOUR BEST." THERE WAS NO CONSISTENT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHANGES IN BOREDOM OR INTEREST AND CHANGES IN PERFORMANCE WITHIN THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS. (20 REF.) (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)