Beat Competitors or Beat Yourself: Differential Effects of Goal Focuses on Players’ Motivation in Different Stages of Competitive Goal Pursuit

Many goal strivings take place in competitive settings, and paying attention to rivalry and competitors’ performance is generally expected to elicit increased motivation from players (Deci, Betley, Jahle, Abrams, & Porac, 1981). The present research questions if this belief always holds. We propose that in competitive goal pursuit focusing on a competition aspect of the goal would elicit higher motivation before the competition begins (i.e., the “pre-initiation stage”). Once the actual competition is initiated (i.e., the “post-initiation stage”), however, individuals are assumed to be better motivated by focusing on the fixed performance standard to achieve, rather than competitors’ progress on the goal. The goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990; 2002) and the literature on implementation intentions (Gollwitzer 1993; 1999) give support to our hypothesis in the post-initiation stage. Individuals perform better when pursuing a specific, concrete goal as it facilitates an accurate assessment on goal attainability; people do not benefit from an abstract goal during pursuit as it does not offer an external referent that serves as a source of feedback on their progress (Locke & Latham, 1990). A specific goal, by contrast, provides unequivocal feedback on one’s performance, allowing people to easily monitor their progress. Studies also suggest that implementation intentions should be formulated for successful goal accomplishment during pursuit, which increases consistency between intentions and behaviors by activating “if-then” goals (Gollwitzer & Brandstätter, 1997).