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Interpersonal consequences of conveying goal ambition

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  • Wingrove, Sara
  • Fitzsimons, Gráinne M.

Abstract

Setting ambitious goals is a proven strategy for improving performance, but we suggest it may have interpersonal costs. We predict that relative to those with moderately ambitious goals, those with highly ambitious goals (and those with unambitious goals) will receive more negative interpersonal evaluations, being seen as less warm and as offering less relationship potential. Thirteen studies including nine preregistered experiments, three preregistered replications, and one archival analysis of graduate school applications (total N = 6,620) test these hypotheses. Across career, diet, fitness, savings, and academic goals, we found a robust effect of ambition on judgments, such that moderately ambitious goals led to the most consistently positive interpersonal expectations. To understand this phenomenon, we consider how ambition influences judgments of investment in one’s own goals as opposed to supportiveness for other people’s goals and explore expectations about goal supportiveness as one mechanism through which ambition may influence interpersonal judgments.

Suggested Citation

  • Wingrove, Sara & Fitzsimons, Gráinne M., 2022. "Interpersonal consequences of conveying goal ambition," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:172:y:2022:i:c:s0749597822000668
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2022.104182
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard L. Fox & Jennifer L. Lawless, 2005. "To Run or Not to Run for Office: Explaining Nascent Political Ambition," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 642-659, July.
    2. Black, Gordon S., 1972. "A Theory of Political Ambition: Career Choices and the Role of Structural Incentives," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 66(1), pages 144-159, March.
    3. Sikora, Joanna & Biddle, Nicholas, 2015. "How gendered is ambition? Educational and occupational plans of Indigenous youth in Australia," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-13.
    4. Palan, Stefan & Schitter, Christian, 2018. "Prolific.ac—A subject pool for online experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 22-27.
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