Self-Evaluation and Its Importance in Goal Setting
This paper touches basis on some of the reasons an individual may feel the need to perform better based on their knowledge of themselves and how it relates to goal performance and goal setting. Goal setting can be a very important thing to people who desire to reach that particular goal based on their motivation at the time. A person’s self-evaluation may be the underlying motivational factor of how well they decide to perform during a goal performance task. This paper is supported by the exploration of a published article entitled, “Determining the Importance of Self-Evaluation on the Goal-Performance Effect in Goal Setting: Primary Findings” written by three authors Bruce Martin, Jeffery McNally, and Simon Taggar, who examined a study of the goal setting theory on student participants. The goal-setting theory examination took place in a laboratory, to see if or how self-evaluation can play a role in a person’s goal performance based on their self-knowledge and self-validation. This study from Martin et al. is a following on the previous work conducted by authors Harkins, White, and Uthman in the year 2000.
Self-Evaluation and the Goal-Setting Theory
This article takes knowledge of the many previous studies, experiments, and thoughts conducted by previous authors’ to see if people will have the desire to evaluate their abilities based on their knowledge to learn about themselves. The way a person evaluates himself or herself may be an indication of how well they will perform during a given performance task. The authors of Martin et al. of this article were unsure of this goal-setting theory and decided to conduct their own examination to see if it was true. In the article, the many studies conducted by the other author's studies felt as if a person’s desire to self-evaluate will drive their need to perform better outcomes of those wanting to achieve a specific or difficult goal versus those who desire to do just their best. (Martin et al., 2016)
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Martin et al. Thoughts, Findings, and Results
According to Martin et al., they specifically found out that rather than having a do-your-best type of goal, an individual would happen to benefit from their specific goals with a more valuable outcome attached to them. They felt as if having a lack of goal commitment was resolved by having a financial incentive or reward attached to it. Therefore, they conducted an examination on business students with a charitable donation including making the goal achievement a motivating factor for the participants while also being paired with any potential for their self-validation and self-knowledge. “Monetary rewards attached to goal achievement may impact the value facet of goal commitment but not the expectancy aspect of goal commitment” (Martin et al., 2016). I personally have to agree with this theory of goal setting and trying my hardest to perform better with the knowledge of an incentive. Monetary gain has definitely been a motivating factor for me to perform at my best at my job, when I am aware of a raise coming up work I make it my mission to set that goal in action and take every step possible to achieve it.
Martin et al. also found that people who feel self-validation might feel so by allowing others with whom they feel a comparison to have achieved a particular goal and are likely to believe or want to be able to achieve this same specific goal if they put in the hard work. The authors also felt that self-evaluation is important and needed in the workplace; they feel that a person’s goal performance will highlight the need for businesses to ensure the potential for self-evaluation to be conducted on their employees. Personally, for me I find the study of this article to be very correct, I honestly have the need to feel self-validation as it relates to setting my goals, and I do this by comparing my achievements of completion through beating my competition such as a co-worker. I am glad that this article feels the same as I do and I am not alone in this thought of self-validation. It is actually good to know that many people find competition to be a motivating factor for them to complete their goals, which means I am not alone.
Their findings or results in the study found that self-evaluation can be motivated by a person’s need for either self-validation or self-knowledge. (Martin et al., 2016) They found that a person’s intrinsic motivation is the highest when, those achievement goals are set regardless of any external evaluation, even if it is given by an authority figure. Martin et al. also feel that their sample study was a bit biased, considering that; their participants were individuals with higher achievement outlooks. The results from this study suggest that external evaluation may not always play an important role in task performance, which contradicts findings from Harkins et al. (Martin et al., 2016). Therefore, with that contradiction, I feel that any evaluation conducted by an external figure or a superior does nothing for a person’s motivation or goals because they rely on their own thoughts, their own validation, and their own self-evaluation of how well they perform at any given task.
Conclusion. After reading and reviewing the many thoughts, reviews, theories, and results included in this article, I feel that it supports the theory that a person’s goals can only be set by their own personal motivations and self-reflection. A person’s goals can rely on the foundation of their self-knowledge and self-validation to how well they want to succeed. When a goal performance task is given to highly motivated individuals, those individuals tend to perform or work harder with the knowledge of any reward, especially if it is monetary. With the help of comparison to others who have accomplished a similar goal, people also find motivation in competition. They feel the need to validate themselves by performing better and completing the same goals, even if it means more or harder work. Self-evaluation is important to anyone who seeks to set a goal for himself or herself. How you seek to go after your goal or what motivates your goal should be entirely up to you. No matter what an individual’s goals maybe their self-evaluation only helps to carry out those goals even further.
References
- Martin, B. McNally J., Taggar, S. (2016). Determining the Importance of Self-Evaluation on the Goal-Performance Effect in Goal Setting: Primary Findings. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science. Vol. 48, No 2. 91-100 Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.gracechristian.edu/docview/1776786238/BDB43E8C1B1444CBPQ/1?accountid=54847
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