Development and Validation of the Goal Dimensions Questionnaire

Goals represent a central concept in the analysis of human motivation. How people evaluate their goals on dimensions like commitment or progress provides insight into motivational processes. Previously, however, goal dimension measures were often developed ad hoc and published without construct validation (Kiendl & Hennecke, 2022). To address this issue, we developed and factor-analyzed (Study 1 and 2) the Goal Dimensions Questionnaire (GDQ) for measuring 9 commonly investigated goal dimensions: commitment, demand, enjoyment, expectancy, external motivation, facilitation, progress, support, and value. In Study 1, goal expectancy, progress, and enjoyment accounted for about half the explained variance in the initial item set. We tested the construct validity of the GDQ in two longitudinal studies focusing on academic goals (Study 3) and New Year’s resolutions (Study 4). For academic goals, between-person analyses suggested that higher enjoyment, expectancy, and progress as well as lower demand predicted satisfaction with performance and better grades. In Study 4, within-person analyses using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed that support predicted life satisfaction one month later, and enjoyment was associated with it cross-sectionally. Cross-sectionally, enjoyment, expectancy, and progress were furthermore positively and demand was negatively associated with affective well-being on the within-person level. Exploratorily, commitment and expectancy consistently predicted goal progress. Recommendations for parsimonious measurement are derived through exploratory commonality analysis Five of the nine scales showed many of the predicted associations supporting their validity. We recommend further validation of the external motivation, support, facilitation, and value dimensions in study contexts better tailored to their influence or expression.