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Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey.
Abstract
The authors summarize 35 years of empirical research on goal-setting theory, describing the core findings of the theory, the mechanisms by which goals operate, moderators of goal effects, the relation of goals and satisfaction, and the role of goals as mediators of incentives.
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“These mutual goals direct attention and effort, serve an energizing function, contribute to persistence, and spark action indirectly by leading to interests, discoveries, and use of knowledge, strategies, and skills (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
From The Principles of Strengths-Based Education (2009) · cites this paper as Locke & Latham, 2002
In the citing paper
“Unrealistic expectations surrounding weight changes can lead to discouragement [67].”
From Barriers and facilitators to diet, physical activity and lifestyle behavior intervention adherence: a qualitative systematic review of the literature (2023) · cites this paper as [67]
In the citing paper
“Locke and Latham (2002) argue that learning goals are especially important for driving self-regulated attention and motivation.”
From Summarise, elaborate, try again: exploring the effect of feedback literacy on AI-enhanced essay writing (2026) · cites this paper as Locke and Latham (2002)
In the citing paper
“goal setting is generally acknowledged as an essential treatment intervention for procrastination because insufficient or inadequate goals often impair problem solving and lower motivation (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
From Understanding and Treating Procrastination: A Review of a Common Self-Regulatory Failure (2014) · cites this paper as Locke & Latham, 2002
In the citing paper
“goal setting is generally acknowledged as an essential treatment intervention for procrastination because insufficient or inadequate goals often impair problem solving and lower motivation (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
From Understanding and Treating Procrastination: A Review of a Common Self-Regulatory Failure (2014) · cites this paper as Locke & Latham, 2002
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BackgroundPatients at risk for long-term sick leave because of low back pain
Bois, M. D., Szpalski, M., & Donceel, P. (2008) · The Spine Journal · doi:10.1016/j.spinee.2008.07.003 · Cited by 84
“The intensity of any treatment is strongly depending on the patient’s conscious motivation to perform optimally during the evaluation and rehabilitation process [24].”
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“For example, goals are a central construct in most self-regulation theories (Locke & Latham, 2002; Pintrich, 2000; Zimmerman, 2000).”
BackgroundPloderer, B., Brown, R. A., Seng, L. S. D., Lazzarini, P. A., & van Netten, J. J. (2018) · JMIR Diabetes · doi:10.2196/10105 · Cited by 90
“This feature was included because setting a realistic goal is typically one of the first steps in a therapy process to direct the treatment plan and to motivate patients to enact the plan [26,27].”
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DiClemente, R. J., Davis, T. L., Swartzendruber, A. L., Fasula, A. M., Boyce, L. S., Gelaude, D., Gray, S. C., Hardin, J. W., Rose, E., Carry, M., et al. (2014) · Women & Health · doi:10.1080/03630242.2014.932893 · Cited by 85
“These sessions were theory-driven, based on a problem-solving and goal-setting approach designed to identify sexual behavior change goals and strategies, and reinforce prevention concepts discussed in Imara (Beck 1995; Locke and Latham 2002).”
BackgroundEstabrooks, P. A., & Smith-Ray, R. L. (2008) · Patient Education and Counseling · doi:10.1016/j.pec.2008.01.007 · Cited by 82
“IVR intervention Numerous studies have demonstrated that behavior change is more successful with continuous supportive messages delivered at frequent intervals [33–35].”
BackgroundGrez, L. D., Valcke, M., & Roozen, I. T. M. (2009) · European Journal of Psychology of Education · doi:10.1007/bf03174762 · Cited by 81
“In addition, Locke and Latham (2002) stress three more specific mechanisms: goals perform an energizing function, goals affect persistence and goals affect action indirectly by arousal/discovery/use of task-relevant knowledge and strategies.”
Backgroundden Akker, H. O., Cabrita, M., den Akker, R. O., Jones, V. M., & Hermens, H. J. (2015) · Journal of Biomedical Informatics · doi:10.1016/j.jbi.2015.03.005 · Cited by 89
“Such systems are often based on psychological behavioral theories, such as the Goal-Setting Theory [17] or the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change [18].”
BackgroundDoes a new learning environment come up to students' expectations? A longitudinal study.
Könings, K. D., Brand‐Gruwel, S., van Merriënboer, J. J. G., & Broers, N. J. (2008) · Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.535 · Cited by 92
“Also, learning goals serving a directive function lead to greater investment of effort, positively affect persistence, and motivate the learner (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
BackgroundKang, E., Kim, M. Y., Lipsey, K. L., & Foster, E. R. (2021) · Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2021.06.025 · Cited by 90
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“A way to help learners would be to guide them in articulating goals that are specific, proximal, and challenging to them (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
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Development and validation of the solution-focused inventory
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“…practitioner literature, questionnaire items were developed by the first and sixth authors (Grant, 2011): the GO items were designed to encapsulate the key features of goal-focused self-regulation which underpins an orientation towards solution construction (e.g. Locke & Latham, 2002).”
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“These design concepts and their suitability toward workplace detachment and reattachment are wellsupported by research in occupational health psychology and goal setting [33,42,51,52].”
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“Irrespectively, the e ff ect size of non-speci fi c goals on performance was still at the upper limit of the expected e ff ect of setting speci fi c and di ffi cult performance goals (e.g. 0.42-0.80; Locke & Latham, 2002).”
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“…to be considerable potential for integrating the principles of the social identity approach (Haslam, 2004; van Knippenberg & Ellemers, 2003) with the tenets of goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 2002) in order to develop a more complete explanation of a range of motivational phenomena in groups.”
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“Hope implies that a person knows about their goal, agency and ways to achieve it (Locke and Latham, 2002).”
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“…acknowledged many of these risks, and demonstrating that goals can increase unethical behavior is consistent with a premise of goal-setting theory that when employees are committed to goals, they will be motivated to discover and create task strategies for achieving them (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
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“Presumably, this is the case because abstract goals make it less clear which activities contribute to the achievement of these goals, how progress can be monitored, or when further persistence is needed [39].”
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“The reason is that goals are an important motivational construct (Bandura 1989 ; Locke and Latham 2002 ).”
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“This well-validated theory describes the positive effect of goals and goal setting on motivation and performance (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).”
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“The research on goal setting ( Locke and Latham, 2002”
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“The positive effects of combining specific and challenging goals with timely, specific, and positive outcome feedback have been well documented, both in laboratory and in field settings (e.g., Algera, 1990; Alvero, Bucklin, & Austin, 2001; Balcazar, Hopkins, & Suarez, 1986; Kluger & DeNisi, 1996; Locke & Latham, 1990,…”
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“© 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Keywords: prime, subconscious, goal setting, job performance G oal setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002) states that conscious goals are the immediate regulators of individual behavior because a person’s choice of a goal focuses attention toward goal-relevant…”
BackgroundSelf-citationPeters‐Burton, E. E. (2009) · Science & Education · doi:10.1007/s11191-009-9219-1 · Cited by 78
“Additionally, goals made consciously are more reliably and directly tied to task performance than unconscious goals (Howard and Bray 1988; Locke and Latham 2002).”
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“construct of SMART goals, targets or objectives appears to have originated in business and management contexts (Doran 1981; Locke and Latham 2002), having evolved from the ‘management by objectives’ movement (Drucker 1954; Raia 1965).”
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Kelly, K. O., Ang, S. Y. A., Chong, W. L., & Hu, W. S. (2008) · Journal of Educational Administration · doi:10.1108/09578230810849808 · Cited by 77
Academic Course Gamification: The Art of Perceived Playfulness
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“…perceived playfulness such that for extraverts they have a stronger positive effect We relate progress bars to the goal setting theory (Locke, Shaw, Saari, & Latham, 1981) since they are a form of “summary feedback that reveals progress in relation to their goals “ (Locke & Latham, 2002, p. 708).”
BackgroundCollaborative goal setting with and for children as part of therapeutic intervention
Costa, U. M., Brauchle, G., & Kennedy‐Behr, A. (2016) · Disability and Rehabilitation · doi:10.1080/09638288.2016.1202334 · Cited by 80
“These findings support goal setting theory [4,42] and the potential of self-determination and identification with goals for their achievement.”
BackgroundResultZero Accident Vision based strategies in organisations: Innovative perspectives
Zwetsloot, G. I. J. M., Kines, P., Wybo, J., Ruotsala, R., Drupsteen, L., & Bezemer, R. A. (2016) · Safety Science · doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2016.08.016 · Cited by 86
“The progress of NZAS towards their goal of having zero injuries on site was also assessed and found to be consistent with the established principles of goal-setting theory (Locke and Latham, 2002).”
BackgroundResultPersistence: Defining the multidimensional construct and creating a measure
Howard, M. C., & Crayne, M. P. (2018) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2018.11.005 · Cited by 84
Bürgler, S., Hoyle, R. H., & Hennecke, M. (2021) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1177/0890207021992907 · Cited by 76
“…to resolve those conflicts, including focusing on either positive or negative outcomes of two experimental tasks (Roney et al., 1995), goal setting (Locke & Latham, 2002, 2006), implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999), self-reward (Humphrey et al., 1978; Mahoney, 1974), reappraisal, or…”
BackgroundAmbitious employees: Why and when ambition relates to performance and organizational commitment
Hirschi, A., & Spurk, D. (2021) · Journal of Vocational Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2021.103576 · Cited by 104
Audit and feedback: effects on professional practice
Ivers, N. M., Yogasingam, S., Lacroix, M., Brown, K. A., Antony, J., Soobiah, C., Simeoni, M., Willis, T. A., Crawshaw, J., Antonopoulou, V., et al. (2025) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd000259.pub4 · Cited by 161
Information security culture – state-of-the-art review between 2000 and 2013
Karlsson, F., Åström, J., & Karlsson, M. (2015) · Information and Computer Security · doi:10.1108/ics-05-2014-0033 · Cited by 84
Coaching for Behavior Change in Physiatry
Frates, E. P., Moore, M. A., Lopez, C. N., & McMahon, G. T. (2011) · American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation · doi:10.1097/phm.0b013e31822dea9a · Cited by 75
Fairness in performance evaluation and its behavioural consequences
Sholihin, M., & Pike, R. H. (2009) · Accounting and Business Research · doi:10.1080/00014788.2009.9663374 · Cited by 73
“Locke and Latham (1990; 2002) observe that specific, challenging goals consistently led to higher performance than ‘do your best’ goals.”
BackgroundTseng, F.-C., & Kuo, F. (2010) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2010.03.005 · Cited by 74
“…strong self-efficacy are more committed to their goals, manage and adopt better strategies to attain the goals, and take more positive attitude toward negative feedback (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002), persist to master the challenges as well as to attain high performance achievements (Bandura, 1982).”
BackgroundAttitudes Toward Organizational Change Among Public Middle Managers
Giauque, D. (2014) · Public Personnel Management · doi:10.1177/0091026014556512 · Cited by 74
“That said, even if perceived organizational support is related to favorable work conditions, employees’ attitudes toward work are also related to the kinds of goals they have to reach (Locke & Latham, 2002, 2006).”
Perceived Fairness of Performance Appraisals in the Federal Government
Kim, S. E., & Rubianty, D. (2011) · Review of Public Personnel Administration · doi:10.1177/0734371x11428903 · Cited by 74
“This result underscores the value of job goals as a condition of motivating employees for them to search for effective performance strategies (Locke & Latham, 2002; Rainey, 2003).”
BackgroundVision Zero – Is it irrational?
Rosencrantz, H., Edvardsson, K., & Hansson, O. (2007) · Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice · doi:10.1016/j.tra.2006.11.002 · Cited by 74
The Ambiguity Tolerance Interface: A Modified Social Cognitive Model For Leading Under Uncertainty
Lane, M. S., & Klenke, K. (2004) · Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies · doi:10.1177/107179190401000306 · Cited by 73
Arumugam, V., Antony, J., & Linderman, K. (2016) · European Journal of Operational Research · doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2016.03.022 · Cited by 82
“Goal theory, originated in the organizational behaviour and industrial psychology literature, states that individuals with specific challenging goals will have higher performance than those with nonspecific or “do your best” goals (Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002).”
BackgroundJones, R. D., Griffith, K. A., Ubel, P. A., Stewart, A. J., & Jagsi, R. (2016) · Academic Medicine · doi:10.1097/acm.0000000000001244 · Cited by 74
Self-efficacy, motivation, and achievement in school from the perspective of reciprocal determinism
Pajares, F., & Usher, E. L. (2008) · Advances in motivation and achievement · doi:10.1016/s0749-7423(08)15012-9 · Cited by 77
Rotating Online Behavior Change Interventions Increases Effectiveness But Also Increases Attrition
Kovacs, G., Wu, Z., & Bernstein, M. S. (2018) · Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1145/3274364 · Cited by 81
“Interventions are designed drawing on theories of behavior change—for example, goal setting theory [63], persuasion [22, 40], and gamification [30].”
BackgroundCompensation or feedback: Motivating performance in multidimensional tasks
Christ, M. H., Emett, S. A., Tayler, W. B., & Wood, D. A. (2016) · Accounting Organizations and Society · doi:10.1016/j.aos.2016.03.003 · Cited by 76
Sensing, Understanding, and Shaping Social Behavior
Shmueli, E., Singh, V. K., Lepri, B., & Pentland, A. (2014) · IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems · doi:10.1109/tcss.2014.2307438 · Cited by 74
“For example, several persuasive systems use a goal-setting strategy [53] as a key component for inducing behavioral”
BackgroundLetting Good Opportunities Pass Us By: Examining the Role of Mind-Set during Goal Pursuit
Bayuk, J. B., Janiszewski, C. A., & LeBoeuf, R. A. (2010) · Journal of Consumer Research · doi:10.1086/654892 · Cited by 74
Many roads lead to Rome: Self‐regulatory strategies and their effects on self‐control
Hennecke, M., & Bürgler, S. (2020) · Social and Personality Psychology Compass · doi:10.1111/spc3.12530 · Cited by 79
Yu, K., & Martin, A. J. (2014) · Educational Psychology · doi:10.1080/01443410.2014.895297 · Cited by 77
“The degree of difficulty or the challenge factor also varies among goals (Locke & Latham, 2002).”
Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P.
- Affiliations
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 2002-09
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 705-717
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W4237356565
- Cited by
- 7,766
- References
- 131
- Citations by year
- 2026: 527 · 2025: 509 · 2024: 464 · 2023: 511 · 2022: 428 · 2021: 456 · 2020: 540 · 2019: 467 · 2018: 460 · 2017: 421 · 2016: 395 · 2015: 408 · 2014: 370 · 2013: 313 · 2012: 333
- FWCI
- 59.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Human Behavior and Motivation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Keywords
- goal setting, task motivation, motivation theories, goal difficulty, goal specificity, feedback, task difficulty
- MeSH terms
- Goals, Humans, Motivation, Psychological Theory
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