The Dark Side of Goal Setting: The Role of Goals in Motivating Unethical Decision Making

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Management Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
decision making
ethics
organizational goals
strategic planning
motivation
employees
valuation
task performance
goal
job performance
professional ethics
employee motivation
Business Administration, Management, and Operations
Business and Corporate Communications
Business Intelligence
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics
Cognition and Perception
Cognitive Psychology
Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Management Information Systems
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
Organizational Behavior and Theory
Social Psychology
Strategic Management Policy
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Schweitzer, Maurice E
Ordóñez, Lisa D
Douma, Bambi
Contributor
Abstract

A substantial literature has demonstrated that goal setting improves task performance (Locke & Latham, 1990). In this article we explore the proposition that challenging goals motivate not only constructive behavior, but also unethical behavior such as lying and cheating. We conducted eight scenario studies and an anagram experiment, and find support for our thesis. Respondents rated individuals with unmet goals as significantly more likely to engage in unethical behavior than similar individuals attempting to do their best or with met goals. Similarly, participants in the goal conditions in our experiment were significantly more likely to misrepresent their productivity in an anagram task than were participants in the do your best condition. This relationship was particularly strong when people had reward rather than mere goals, and when people were just short of reaching the goal. We explain our results in terms of the reference point adoption process consistent with Prospect Theory (Kahneman & Tversky, 1979), and identify specific contributions to goal setting theory and management practice.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2002-08-01
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Recommended citation
Collection