Jesús María de Miguel Calvo

Alea iacta est. Efectos de la Claridad vs. Ambigüedad en la Meta y los Planes de Acción sobre el Logro de Metas

It has been established that having clear goals is a required condition to achieve objectives. In the following research we will analyze if having clear goals is a needed condition to achieve goal. Clear goal instruction triggered better performance only if the individual posses adequate competencies to devel- op task (Study 1); otherwise goal instruction was more effective (Study 2). When variable planning was added (Study 3) it verifies that clear goal setting are not always more effective, since ambiguous goal instruction was more effective under the condition of not planning. Whenever the individuals were able to plan their actions, there were differences found between clear goal instruction and ambiguous goal instruc- tion. Theoretical and applied implications of the present findings were discussed.