Interaction Among Self-Efficacy, Goal Orientation, and Unrealistic Goal-Setting on Videogame-Based Training Performance

This study sought to investigate what happens to trainee performance when an individual sets an unrealistically difficult performance goal early in training, which results in a large goal-performance discrepancy. Data from 185 trainees participating in a videogame-based training environment demonstrated that a single large discrepancy negatively impacts immediate subsequent training performance. Moreover, performance avoid goal orientation and self-efficacy were found to jointly moderate the impact of the discrepancy for both trainees' immediate subsequent performance and their rate of performance improvement across the training program. These findings highlight the importance of realistic goal-setting and trainee self-efficacy for optimizing videogame-based training success.