Goal Setting, T-Group Participation, and Self-Rated Change: An Experimental Study

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Abstract
Choice of a goal for self-change and participation in a T Group were varied in an orthogonal design in an experimental study of the relative effects of goal selection and T-Group participation. The Ss were high school seniors assigned for one semester to one of four conditions: I) both T Group and change goal, II) T Group but not change goal, III) neither change goal nor T Group, or IV) change goal but no T Group. At semester's end all Ss evaluated themselves on their change along the goal dimensions. It was found that students who had participated in a T Group showed significantly more change toward their selected goal than those who had not (F = 6.8, df = 1.32, p < .05). An unanticipated finding was the negative effect of the goal-setting exercise; goal selection seems to have limited the overall benefits of T-Group participation, and for those students who set a goal but did not have T-Group experience, the goal selection seems to have had a negative effect on their global change as well as on their progress toward their change goal. It was concluded that the "revolution of rising expectations" may operate on an individual as well as on a community level; potential change agents should be aware of the dangers this may create.

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