WHY DO WE SHARE ABOUT OUR GOAL PURSUIT? A FUNCTIONALIST APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING GOAL COMMUNICATION

Abstract

Although individuals often share about their goal pursuit with others, goal communication that specifically serves this purpose has not been well studied. Using a functionalist approach, goal communication was hypothesised to serve underlying motives to share about one’s goal pursuit, fluctuate across time and predict positive outcomes. 379 university students’ academic goal pursuit was tracked across five time points in a semester. Motives to share about goal pursuit, frequency of goal communication and perceived extent of goal completion were measured. Results revealed that motives to share about one’s goal pursuit positively predicted goal communication. The latter was uniquely predicted by motive to make public commitment as well. Fluctuation of goal communication revealed an inverted U-shape pattern, with greatest frequency of communication at the mid-point of goal pursuit. Additionally, goal communication positively predicted perceived extent of goal completion. Taken together, results provided support for the functionalist approach to understanding goal communication as well as highlighted the importance of examining goal communication.