1

INTRODUCTION

Imagine driving a car without knowing where to go. Often, there is confusion. Being
directionless makes one unsure of the path he/she is taking nowhere to go, no lead to follow. Living
life without a goal is the same. Having an answer to why you do what you do allows you to strive
harder, to take in challenges because your eyes are set for something better. Setting goals helps one
find direction in life, boosts motivation, and improves self-confidence.

Consider answering this question, "Why are you in school?" According to studies, students
who answer they are in school because they dream of a better future for their family, tend to strive
harder than those who are in school because they are forced to or because it's just what everybody else
does. The former tends to become more successful than the latter two.

EDWIN A. LOCKE'S GOAL SETTING THEORY

The goal setting theory was first studied by Dr. Locke in the middle of 1960's. Dr. Locke is a
Harvard graduate who is a Dean's Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership and Motivation (Locke, 2017).
In 1996, Locke published an article entitled "Motivation Through Conscious Goal Setting'. The article
is about his 30 years of research findings on the relationship between conscious performance goals
and performance on work tasks. The basic contents of goal setting theory are summarized in terms of
14 categories of findings discussed in the article (as cited by Alata, Caslib, Pawilen & Sirafica, 2018).

14 Research Findings

1. The more difficult the goal, the

greater the achievement.

2. The more specific or explicit the

goal, the more precisely
performance is regulated.

3. Goals that are both specific

and difficult lead to the highest
performance.

4. Commitment to goals is most critical when goals are specific and difficult.

5. High commitment to goals is attained when:

a. the individual is convinced the goal is important; and

2
b. the individual is convinced the goal is attainable (or at least, progress can be made
toward it).
 6. Self-efficacy has direct effect on performance which influences the difficulty level of the goal
chosen or accepted; commitment to goals; the response to negative feedback or failure; and
the choice of task strategies.

7. Goal setting is most effective when there is feedback that shows progress in relation to the
goal.

8. Goal setting (along with self-efficacy) mediates the effect of knowledge of past performance on
subsequent performance. Those who can sustain their self- efficacy under pressure tend to
maintain or raise subsequent goals, retain their commitment, intensify their search for better
strategy and improve their performance.

9. Goals affect the performance by affecting the direction of action, the degree of effort exerted,
and persistence of action over time "quality over quantity or speed."

10. Goals stimulates planning in general.

11. When people strive for goals on complex

tasks, they are least effective in discovering suitable
task strategies if:
a. they have no prior training or experience on
the task;
b. there is high pressure to perform well; and
c. there is high time pressure (to perform well
immediately).

12. Goals in combination with self-efficacy mediate or partially mediate the effects of several
personality traits and incentives on performance. People have the choice to manage their own
lives by setting their own purposes and working to achieve them.

13. Goal-setting and goal-related mechanisms can be trained and/or adopted in the absence of
training for the purpose of self-regulation. High goals require higher standards of attainment
compared with low goals, making self satisfaction hard to achieve.

14. Goals serve as standard of self-satisfaction, where harder goals demanding higher
accomplishment in order to attain self-satisfaction than easy goals.

3
In the context of industrial/organizational (I/O) Psychology, goal setting is the process of
improving work performance of individuals. For goal setting to be most successful, goals should
possess the characteristics represented by the acronym SMART: specific, measurable, attainable,
relevant, and time-bound. The acronym SMART embodies the fundamental practice necessary for
achieving increased motivation. Individuals perform at higher levels when asked to meet a specific
and concrete goal. Properly set goals can be measured, attainable and relevant. Lastly, goals work
best when there is time frame for their completion. Locke and Latham suggest that the most effective
performance results when goals are specific and challenging, when there is feedback on the results,
when they are used to evaluate performance, and when they create commitment and acceptance.

4
ACTIVITY 8.1
Activity Title: Activity No.:

Name: Date:

Section: Score:

SHORT-TERM GOALS
Instructions: Write your to-do list this week.

5
ACTIVITY 8.2
Activity Title: Activity No.:

Name: Date:

Section: Score:

LONG-TERM GOALS

1. PECIFIC: What exactly do you want to achieve?

 2. EASURABLE: How would you know if you have achieved your goal?

3. TTAINABLE: What resources can you use to achieve your goal? What needs to be
done to achieve your goal?

4. ELEVANT: Why is the goal important to you?

5. IME-BOUND: When will you achieve the goal?

6
ACTIVITY 8.3
Activity Title: Activity No.:

Name: Date:

Section: Score:

REFLECTION

Instructions: Reflect the importance of setting one’s goals using the CERAE format (Content,
Experience, Reflection, Analysis, and Evaluation).

Take into consideration that you will be graded according to the following:
 CRITERIA EXCELLENT FAIR NEEDS SCORE
20-16 PTS 10-15 PTS IMPROVEMENT
9-BELOW

ORGANIZATIO The essay was The essay was The essay did not
N arranged in an arranged however, have transitions and
organized there are some parts lacked any order.
sequence. that did not follow the
sequence.

CLARITY The theme of the The theme of the The theme of the
essay was explicitly essay was present, essay was
expressed. but vague. ambiguous

CONTENT The topic was There is little The topic lacked an

thoroughly explanation of the explanation. It only
expounded. It also topic. Insight was had one helpful
contained helpful present but not very insight.
insight on the self. profound.

7
ACTIVITY 8.4
Activity Title: Activity No.:

Name: Date:

Section: Score:

Instructions: Check one among the choices in each item which one is true to you. Please answer as
honestly as possible. There are no right or wrong answers. Adapted from Schwarzer, R., & Jerusalem,
M. (1995).
Exactly True Not at all True Hardly True Moderately True

1. I can always manage to solve difficult problems if I try hard enough. (1) (2) (3) (4)

2. If someone opposes me, I can find the means and ways to get what I want. (1) (2) (3) (4)

3. It is easy for me to stick to my aims and accomplish my goals. (1) (2) (3) (4)

4. I am confident that I could deal efficiently with unexpected events. (1) (2) (3) (4)

5. Thanks to my resourcefulness, I know how to handle unforeseen situations. (1) (2) (3) (4)

6. I can solve most problems if I invest the necessary effort. (1) (2) (3) (4)
 7. I can remain calm when facing difficulties because I can rely on my coping abilities. (1) (2)
(3) (4)

8. When I am confronted with a problem, I can usually find several solutions. (1) (2) (3) (4)

9. If I am in trouble, I can usually think of a solution. (1) (2) (3) (4)

10. I can usually handle whatever comes my way.(1) (2) (3) (4)

How to score: The total score is calculated by finding the sum of the all items. The score ranges
between 10 and 40, with a higher score indicating more self-efficacy.

8
SELF-EFFICACY

Self-efficacy is defined by Bandura (as mentioned by Feist, Feist, & Roberts, 2012) as
“people’s beliefs in their personal efficacy influence what courses of action they choose to pursue,
how much effort they will invest in activities, how long they will persevere in the face of obstacles
and failure experiences, and their resiliency following setbacks.” In other words, it is the power of
believing you can, and that one of the most important components of success if believing that you can
accomplish what you want to accomplish (Maddux, 2002).

People low in self-efficacy feel helpless, unable to exercise control over life events. When they have
problems, they quickly give up if their first attempt to try and solve the problem is not effective. They
often ask themselves “why should I try?”. They are convinced that nothing they do will make a
difference (Shultz & Shultz, 2012). Low self-efficacy can destroy
motivation, lower aspirations,
interfere with cognitive abilities, and adversely affect
physical health.

People in self-efficacy believe they can deal

effectively with events and situations. Because they expect
to succeed in solving problems, they often perform at a
high level. High self-efficacy reduces fear of failure, raises
aspirations, and improves problem solving and analytical
thinking abilities (Shultz & Shultz, 2012).

Contributors to Self-efficacy

1. Mastery Experiences
This is the most influential source to self-efficacy and is based on past performances.
Self-efficacy increases in proportion to the difficulty of the task and if the task is successfully
accomplished by oneself than with others. If we fail while we put our best efforts or we are
under maximal conditions, then self
 efficacy will most likely decrease. Moreover, occasional failure has little effect on efficacy,
especially for people with a generally high expectancy of success.

2. Social Modeling
Self-efficacy is more likely to increase if we observe someone with the same abilities
as ourselves succeed. We are saying “If they can do it, so can I.” However, self-efficacy is
lowered when we see a friend fail. We are saying “If they can’t do it, neither can I.”

9
3. Social Persuasion
Social persuasion can
increase self-efficacy by
reminding
people that they can achieve
whatever they want to achieve.
Words such as “you can do it”
are
often given by parents, teachers,
and friends. To be effective, the
activity one is being encouraged
must be realistic. Moreover, how
the person perceives the
persuader in terms of status and authority is related to how effective the persuasion is.

4. Physical and Emotional States

We are more likely to believe we will master a problem successfully if we are not
agitated, tense, or bothered by headaches. The more composed we feel, the greater our self-
efficacy. Whereas the higher our level of physiological and emotional arousal, the lower our
self-efficacy. The more fear, anxiety, or tension we experience in a given situation, the less
we feel able to cope.

ACTIVITY 8.5
Activity Title: Activity No.:

Name: Date:

Section: Score:

ACTION PLAN! BANG BANG BANG!

Instructions: With your short-term and long-term goals, create an action plan that will help you attain
your goals. The action plan must highlight the three (3) steps that you are going to do (now and/or in
the succeeding weeks, months, or years) for you to achieve the goals that you have set for yourself.
Use/relate it to the theory of Bandura on Self-Efficacy and Locke’s Goal Setting Theory.

10