Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: Conceptual clarification andempirical synthesis

Goals are central to current treatments of work motivation, and goal commit ment is a critical construct in understanding the relationship between goal s and task performance. Despite this importance, there is confusion about t he role of goal commitment and only recently has this key construct receive d the empirical attention it warrants. This meta-analysis, based on 83 inde pendent samples, updates the goal commitment literature by summarizing the accumulated evidence on the antecedents and consequences of goal commitment . Using this aggregate empirical evidence, the role of goal commitment in t he goal-setting process is clarified and key areas for future research are identified.