Accounting

Business

Mathematical economics

Mathematics

Moderation

Outcome (game theory)

Orientation (vector space)

Cognitive psychology

Psychology

Economics

Variance (accounting)

Geometry

Social psychology

Goal orientation

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior

Goal orientation, a theory that originated primarily in the educational and social psychology fields, has emerged in the past two decades as a prominent theory in organizational psychology and organizational behavior. We review the state of affairs for goal orientation research with the following roadmap. First, we discuss the historical roots of goal orientation. Next, we summarize the nomological network of goal orientation and describe the processing frameworks associated with goal orientation factors. We then discuss the crucial role of moderator variables to explain the notable variance found in goal orientation–outcome variable relationships. We next summarize the research findings on the relationship of goal orientation with the proximal mediator and distal outcome variables. We conclude the review with a miles-to-go discussion of several major issues currently faced in goal orientation research.

Goal Orientation: A Review of the Miles Traveled and the Miles to Go