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The dark side of consecutive high performance goals: Linking goal setting, depletion, and unethical behavior

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  • Welsh, David T.
  • Ordóñez, Lisa D.

Abstract

Over 40years of research on the effects of goal setting has demonstrated that high goals can increase performance by motivating people, directing their attention to a target, and increasing their persistence (Locke & Latham, 2002). However, recent research has introduced a dark side of goal setting by linking high performance goals to unethical behavior (e.g., Schweitzer, Ordóñez, & Douma, 2004). In this paper, we integrate self-regulatory resource theories with behavioral ethics research exploring the dark side of goal setting to suggest that the very mechanisms through which goals are theorized to increase performance can lead to unethical behavior by depleting self-regulatory resources across consecutive goal periods. Results of a laboratory experiment utilizing high, low, increasing, decreasing, and “do your best” goal structures across multiple rounds provide evidence that depletion mediates the relationship between goal structures and unethical behavior, and that this effect is moderated by the number of consecutive goals assigned.

Suggested Citation

  • Welsh, David T. & Ordóñez, Lisa D., 2014. "The dark side of consecutive high performance goals: Linking goal setting, depletion, and unethical behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 79-89.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:123:y:2014:i:2:p:79-89
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2013.07.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mead, N.L. & Baumeister, R.F. & Gino, F. & Schweitzer, M.E. & Ariely, D., 2009. "Too tired to tell the truth : Self-control resource depletion and dishonesty," Other publications TiSEM c60167a3-c3aa-4b83-9192-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Cadsby C. Bram & Song Fei & Tapon Francis, 2010. "Are You Paying Your Employees to Cheat? An Experimental Investigation," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-32, April.
    3. Gino, Francesca & Schweitzer, Maurice E. & Mead, Nicole L. & Ariely, Dan, 2011. "Unable to resist temptation: How self-control depletion promotes unethical behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 191-203, July.
    4. Adam Barsky, 2008. "Understanding the Ethical Cost of Organizational Goal-Setting: A Review and Theory Development," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 81(1), pages 63-81, August.
    5. Michael C. Jensen, 2003. "Paying People to Lie: the Truth about the Budgeting Process," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 9(3), pages 379-406, September.
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    Cited by:

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    4. Welsh, David & Bush, John & Thiel, Chase & Bonner, Julena, 2019. "Reconceptualizing goal setting’s dark side: The ethical consequences of learning versus outcome goals," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 14-27.
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