Bambi M. Douma

Goal Setting as a Motivator of Unethical Behavior

We explored the role of goal setting in motivating unethical behavior in a laboratory experiment. We found that people with unmet goals were more likely to engage in unethical behavior than people attempting to do their best. This relationship held for goals both with and without economic incentives. We also found that the relationship between goal setting and unethical behavior was particularly strong when people fell just short of reaching their goals.

A Review and Critique of the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ)

This paper reviews and critiques the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ), “...a self-report inventory representing the first attempt to assess the prevalence of sexual harassment in a manner that met traditional psychometric standards” (Fitzgerald, Gelfand, & Drasgow, 1995, p. 427). Widely used by its developers and others as a measure of sexual harassment, the SEQ is not a finished product, has a number of problems, and has weak psychometric properties. Because of inconsistencies (e.g., in time frame, number of items, wording of items), the SEQ lacks the advantages of standardized measures, such as the ability to assess changes over time. It defines sexual harassment very broadly, having the effect of distorting findings about sexual harassment. Most importantly, it is not clear what or whose definition of sexual harassment the SEQ assesses.

THE DARK SIDE OF GOAL SETTING: THE ROLE OF GOALS IN MOTIVATING UNETHICAL DECISION MAKING

A substantial literature has demonstrated that goal setting improves task performance (Locke & Latham, 1990). In this article we explore the proposition that challenging goals motivate not only con...