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Version 1.1 – Updated August 2021

Goal commitment

Overview

  • Influence: Goal commitment
  • Domain: Teaching Strategies
  • Sub-Domain: Learning intentions
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: A person’s determination to achieve a particular goal is most important when the goal is both specific and difficult to accomplish. Students with higher goal commitment have been found to be more likely to invest time and energy in studying, and to use additional strategies to achieve deep knowledge of the subject under study. Students commit to self-set goals more readily than to assigned goals, and research has indicated that instructor involvement in goal setting increases goal commitment among students pursuing group or team projects.

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 3
  • Number of studies: 103
  • Number of students: 2,360
  • Number of effects: 112
  • Effect size: 0.40

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author First Author's Country Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Applied Psychology Donovan & Radosevich USA The moderating role of goal commitment on the goal difficulty–performance relationship: A meta-analytic review and critical reanalysis. 1998 Goal commitment 21 2,360 21 0.36
Journal of Applied Psychology Klein, Wesson, Hollenbeck & Alge USA Goal commitment and the goal-setting process: conceptual clarification and empirical synthesis 1999 Goal commitment 74 0 83 0.47
Unpublished Thesis Miloslavic USA Regulatory Fit in Goal Pursuit: Implications for Goal Commitment, Goal Revision, and Academic Performance 2011 Goal commitment 8 0 8 0.37
TOTAL/AVERAGE 103 2,360 112 0.40

Confidence

The Confidence is the average of these four measures, each divided into five approximately equal groups and assigned a value from 1 to 5 based on the following criteria:

  • Number of Meta-analyses
    • 1 = 1
    • 2 = 2–3
    • 3 = 4–6
    • 4 = 7–9
    • 5 = 10+
  • Number of Studies
    • 1 = 1–10
    • 2 = 11–50
    • 3 = 51–200
    • 4 = 201–400
    • 5 = 400+
  • Number of Students
    • 1 = 1–2,500
    • 2 = 2,501–10,000
    • 3 = 10,000–20,000
    • 4 = 20,000–100,000
    • 5 = 100,001+
  • Number of Effects
    • 1 = 1–100
    • 2 = 101–300
    • 3 = 301–600
    • 4 = 601–1,200
    • 5 = 1,200+
Confidences
Number of Meta-Analyses Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Overall Confidence
Confidence Factor 2 3 1 2 2
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