COMMUNICATING PERSONAL GOALS - THE EFFECTS OF COMMUNICATION MOTIVES ON GOAL PURSUIT

The communication of personal goals to others is pervasive and spontaneous. Research suggests that goal communication may have implications for goal pursuit outcomes, depending on the motives driving such communication. However, there has yet to be any systematic study on the effects of goal communication and its motives. The dearth of research in this area necessitated the development of a novel scale. The present studies sought to develop the Motives to Communicate Goal Pursuits Scale (MCGPS) and to demonstrate its reliability and validity. Confirmatory factor analysis found 8 motives to communicate goal pursuits – Seeking Certainty, Emotional Support, Instrumental Support, Venting, Altruistic Intent, Public Commitment, Strengthening Social Bonds, and Positive Self-concept. The scale demonstrated good reliability and substantial incremental validity of up to 10.3% over other established communication motives scales. In addition, the present studies provided support that communication motives play an important role in predicting goal achievement. Future directions for the research in goal communication are discussed.

Author dc:creator

• LIM AN LYDIA

• goal pursuit, communication, motives, motivation, goals