The Assessment of Goal Commitment: A Measurement Model Meta-Analysis

doi:10.1006/obhd.2000.2931

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Volume 85, Issue 1, May 2001, Pages 32-55

https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2000.2931 Get rights and content

Abstract

Goals are central to current treatments of work motivation, and goal commitment is a critical construct in understanding the relationship between goals and performance. Inconsistency in the measurement of goal commitment hindered early research in this area but the nine-item, self-report scale developed by Hollenbeck, Williams, and Klein (1989b), and derivatives of that scale, have become the most commonly used measures of goal commitment. Despite this convergence, a few authors, based on small sample studies, have raised questions about the dimensionality of this measure. To address the conflicting recommendations in the literature regarding what items to use in assessing goal commitment, the current study combines the results of 17 independent samples and 2918 subjects to provide a more conclusive assessment by combining meta-analytic and multisample confirmatory factor analytic techniques. This effort reflects the first combined use of these techniques to test a measurement model and allowed for the creation of a database substantially larger than that of previously factor analyzed samples containing these scale items. By mitigating sampling error, the results clarified a number of debated issues that have arisen out of previous small sample factor analyses and revealed a five-item scale that is unidimensional and equivalent across measurement timing, goal origin, and task complexity. It is recommended that this five-item scale be used in future research assessing goal commitment.

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^☆: The authors thank Jennifer Kantrowitz and Brenda LeVan for their assistance in compiling the data used in this study and Jason A. Colquitt and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on earlier versions of this paper. A version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Chicago, Illinois, August, 1999.

^f2: Address correspondence and reprint requests to Howard J. Klein, Department of Management and Human Resources, Max M. Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, 2100 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1144. E-mail: [email protected].

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Regular ArticleThe Assessment of Goal Commitment: A Measurement Model Meta-Analysis☆

Abstract

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Journal of Management

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Goal constructs in psychology: Process and content

Psychological Bulletin

Comparative fit indices in structural models

Psychological Bulletin

EQS structural equations program manual

Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures

Psychological Bulletin

Structural equations with latent variables

Overall fit in covariance structure models: Two types of sample size effects

Psychological Bulletin

Alternative ways of assessing model fit

Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences

Analysis of correlation matrices using covariance structure models

Psychological Bulletin

Scrutinizing psychological tests: Measurement equivalence and equivalent reactions with external variables are central issues

Psychological Bulletin

Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: Problems, prospects, and proposals for future research

Journal of Applied Psychology

Investigation of the construct validity of a self-report measure of goal commitment

Journal of Applied Psychology

An empirical examination of the antecedents of commitment to difficult goals

Journal of Applied Psychology

Evaluating model fit

Methods of meta-analysis: Correcting error and bias in research findings

LISREL 6: Analysis of linear structural relationships by maximum likelihood and least squares methods

Evaluating and modifying covariance structure models: A review and recommendation

Multivariate Behavioral Research

Statistical power in structural equation modeling

Regular Article
The Assessment of Goal Commitment: A Measurement Model Meta-Analysis☆