Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

An experimental study of the role of the ego in work. II. The significance of task-orientation in work

An experimental study of the role of the ego in work. II. The significance of task-orientation in... Twelve subjects in each of two groups in experiments I and IA were instructed so as to induce respectively task-oriented and ego-oriented attitudes in their performance of 18 assigned tasks (see ^W18:^n 2739). The ratio between the average number of interrupted to completed tasks was 1.74 and .625 for I and IA respectively. Thus, when the person is ego-oriented, recall favors the completed (ego-enhancing, "success') tasks. When the S worked jointly with another person (experiment II), the ratio of interrupted to completed tasks was 1.50, showing that interrupted tasks are better recalled in co-operative as well as in isolated work. In experiment III, 23 Ss working alone at the same tasks as above were interrupted by E who completed the task while S watched. The ratio of interrupted to completed tasks was 1.20, indicating that completion of a task by another person (objective completion) may be as satisfactory as personal completion, even when the person is working alone. This depends upon task-orientation and upon the nature of the task. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Experimental Psychology: General American Psychological Association

An experimental study of the role of the ego in work. II. The significance of task-orientation in work

Download PDF
21 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/american-psychological-association/an-experimental-study-of-the-role-of-the-ego-in-work-ii-the-apjiWNYefb

References (8)

Publisher
American Psychological Association
Copyright
Copyright © 1944 American Psychological Association
ISSN
0096-3445
eISSN
1939-2222
DOI
10.1037/h0053522
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Twelve subjects in each of two groups in experiments I and IA were instructed so as to induce respectively task-oriented and ego-oriented attitudes in their performance of 18 assigned tasks (see ^W18:^n 2739). The ratio between the average number of interrupted to completed tasks was 1.74 and .625 for I and IA respectively. Thus, when the person is ego-oriented, recall favors the completed (ego-enhancing, "success') tasks. When the S worked jointly with another person (experiment II), the ratio of interrupted to completed tasks was 1.50, showing that interrupted tasks are better recalled in co-operative as well as in isolated work. In experiment III, 23 Ss working alone at the same tasks as above were interrupted by E who completed the task while S watched. The ratio of interrupted to completed tasks was 1.20, indicating that completion of a task by another person (objective completion) may be as satisfactory as personal completion, even when the person is working alone. This depends upon task-orientation and upon the nature of the task.

Journal

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General – American Psychological Association

Published: Jun 1, 1944

There are no references for this article.