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Promoting Goal Setting: An Experimental Study of Positive Psychology in an

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 World Journal of Educational Research
ISSN 2375-9771 (Print) ISSN 2333-5998 (Online)
Vol. 5, No. 2, 2018
www.scholink.org/ojs/index.php/wjer

Original Paper

Promoting Goal Setting: An Experimental Study of Positive

Psychology in an EFL Context

Samieh Noori1 & Mehry Haddad Narafshan1*
1
Department of Foreign Languages, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran
*
Mehry Haddad Narafshan, Department of Foreign Languages, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad
University, Kerman, Iran

Received: March 7, 2018 Accepted: March 20, 2018 Online Published: April 8, 2018
doi:10.22158/wjer.v5n2p144 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/wjer.v5n2p144

Abstract
The present quasi-experimental study addresses the impact of a Character Strength Based Positive
Psychology Intervention (CSBPPI) on Goal Setting (GS) of TEFL university students in Iran. In so
doing, the study utilized an experimental design with 18 participants in the control group and 18
participants in the experimental group which totalled 7 male and 29 female students. The pretest
showed that the participants of the two groups were homogenous with regard to their proficiency
level as well as their goal setting. Data was collected over five months using Erickson et al. (2015)
goal setting questionnaire before and after an MA course. The results of the post-test revealed that
PP has a positive and significant impact on learners’ goal setting. The findings from this research
suggest positive paths from positive psychology to understanding, managing and successfully
setting the goals.
Keywords
EFL context, goal setting, positive psychology

1. Introduction
We are not thinking creatures that feel, but we are feeling creatures that think (Damasio, 1994). A
variety of studies have acknowledged that positive emotions lead to the sort of thinking that
expands individual’s awareness and builds the personal and social resources for the future life
(Gregersen, MacIntyre, & Meza, 2016). Coupled with, positive emotional experiences make
resiliency, resourcefulness, social connections, and optimal functioning through broadminded
coping efforts (Cohn, Fredrickson, Brown, Mikels, & Conway, 2009; Fredrickson, 2013a). This
change leads to an interactive, upward spiral connecting positive affections to positive outcomes, a

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process that contributes directly to the personal and professional growth and success.
Equally important, positive psychology brings about a noticeable shift in educational psychology
by creating positive emotions promoting students’ strengths, satisfaction, and character
development (Seligman et al., 2009; Seligman, 2013). Character education’s goal is to insure that
student’s academic abilities are developed in union with his/her character (Berkowitz & Bier, 2004)
which is in line with the positive education movement (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich, &
Linkins, 2009). Additionally, Benninga, Berkowitz, Kuehn, and Smith (2006) argue that what
happens at schools or universities builds students’ character. In other words, the mission of
positive psychology is measuring, understanding, and building human strengths and characters
(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Character strength serves as a path toward a life of greater
virtue, happiness, and well-being to have better relationships, improve health, growth happiness,
and promote performance. Thus, using learners’ strengths is considered to be accordant with their
intrinsic interests, values and goals specifically in educational settings. One way that strengths may
work to enhance profitable outcomes is through setting attainable personal and educational goals.
Such individuals have the confidence in their own ability to achieve a goal, would believe that
reaching the goal is probable with sufficient effort, would overcome challenges and restructure
strategies to reach the goal, and would bounce back from adversity to reach even higher levels of
goal attainment. Luthans et al. (2015) have asserted that up to 40% of our future can be changed
with intentional development.
As mentioned by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000), positive psychology sees individuals as
decision makers who have choices and preferences (p. 8). It tries to help them focus on their
strengths and capacities that can be measured, promote, and effectively managed for performance
improvement in their daily life (Luthans, 2002, p. 59). In other words, positive psychology makes
the feeling of having a purpose and meaning in life or serving a cause greater than one’s self (Steger,
Kashdan, & Oishi, 2008). This sense of understanding and meaning has been shown to be associated
with life satisfaction, self-realization, and feelings of fulfillment and joy in different domains
(Steger et al., 2008). Furthermore, passion for long-term goals has predicted educational attainment
and success beyond that of IQ (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). This skill to put
forth effort toward challenges while preserving interest over time, despite failure and adversity, has
been positively related to individuals’ life satisfaction (Duckworth & Quinn, 2009; Peterson et al.,
2007). However, to set an attainable goal, one should first have a full understanding and accepting
what his qualities, skills and abilities are (Jernigan, 2012).
Considering the strong role of learners’ goal setting ability in general and academic success and its
association with factors which are conducive to learning, it seems vital to find the strategies,
recourses, and approaches which may cause its development. Positive psychology makes a great
shift in educational psychology by stimulating positive emotions promoting students’ strengths and
wellbeing. To empirically investigate this assumption, the present study sought to examine the
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impact of introducing and integrating PP on the GS of TEFL university students in Iran. Keeping
in view the mentioned overall purpose of the present study, the following research question guided
our study:
1) Does positive psychology have any significant impact on EFL learners’ gaol setting?

2. Literature Review
2.1 Positive Psychology and Second/Foreign Language Acquisition
The humanistic trend in the 1970s and 1980s took a holistic view of the learner combining cognition
and affect in language teaching and learning. Its main aim was to emphasize the consideration that
the affective aspects of second language learning are as vital as the cognitive aspects, and the learner
should be treated in some sense as a whole person (Stevick, 1990). As a matter of fact, merging
affect and cognition is a key tenet of many modern SLA models. However, affects have been
ignored in most educational studies (Garret & Young, 2009), especially in second/foreign language
teaching and learning (MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012). Different studies have shown that language
learning process is fundamentally an emotionally driven task (Maclntyre, 2002; Dörnyei, 2005;
Garret & Young, 2009; Bown & White, 2010; Imai, 2010). In Accordance with Schumann (1997),
since emotions involve changes which in turn affect cognitive processing and performance.
Therefore, to a large extent, the interaction of emotional experiences with other external factors can
determine the quantity and quality of performance and success in language acquisition. In Bolitho et
al. (2003), it is acknowledged that one of the most significant principles of language learning is that
“learners learn best when efficiently engaged, and voluntarily invest time, energy and interest in the
learning process” (p. 252). In the same vein, MacIntyre (2002) mentions that the degree of students’
engagement is because of the affections they experience during the process of language learning.
These affections can be triggered owing to a number of issues including the interplay with peers and
teachers, learning inputs and students’ own feelings in the context of language classroom climate
(Sansone & Thoman, 2005; Scherer, 2005; Hascher, 2008).
In like manner, Scherer (2005) asserts that affections stimulate, monitor, and guide specific
motivational behaviours from students, empowering them to start and complete a particular learning
task. As a result, the experiences language learners are exposed to and their consequences
demonstrate the learning activities (Mendez Lopez, 2011). In other words, the positive emotions that
learners experience inside the classroom and the degree of the class engagement they show during
language learning process go hand in hand. Accordingly, language teachers should guide “learners
especially foreign language learners decrease the negative influence of emotional experiences on
their learning process, and increase positive emotions which motivate learning and attainment”
(Mendez Lopez, 2011, p. I). As brought up above, regrettably little attention has been given to the
changes positive emotions can make to second language learning, and most researchers have
broadly focused on negative emotions, specifically language anxiety, with the aim of examining
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their adverse impacts on language learning process (Ely, 1986; Horwitz, Horwitz, & Cope, 1986;
MacIntyre & Gregersen, 2012).
The main finding of most studies is that positive emotions provide individuals’ joyful involvement
and association with their environment as well as maximize social interactions (e.g., Cacioppo,
Priester, & Berntson, 1993; Carver & Scheier 1990; Clore, 1994; Davidson, 1993; Frijda, 1994). In
comparison to negative emotions that filter individuals’ performance, positive emotions extend
enjoyable performances (Fredrickson, 1998, 2001; Fredrickson & Branigan, 2005) which form
personal resources including physical, intellectual, and social ones. likewise, Diener, Sandvik, and
Pavot (1991) proved that the amount of time people experience positive emotions and their
happiness or well-being go hand in hand, that is “the events which result in intense but
approximately seldom positive experiences are unlikely to boost long-term happiness to a
considerable degree” (p. 137). This is further argued by Watson (2002) that positive environments
and experiences can increase the individuals’ level of satisfaction, enthusiasm, and confidence. In
accordance with Fredrickson (2001), positive emotions are an indicator of thriving, and need
cultivating due to cultivate well-being and psychological advancement over time. In doing so, the
emphasis should be on interest, happiness, absorption, contentment, and love rather than on tension,
sadness, anger, and depression. In their studies, Isen and colleagues (as cited in Fredrickson, 2004)
claimed that people experiencing positive emotions are more creative (Isen, Daubman, & Nowicki,
1987), exhibiting flexibility (Isen & Daubman, 1984), and integrity (Isen, Rosenzweig, & Young,
1991). They further declared that individuals experiencing positive emotions are open to
information and show stronger preferences for a range of behavioural options or experiments (Kahn
& Isen, 1993). Widely, Isen emphasized that positive emotions build a “broad, flexible cognitive
organization and ability to merged various materials” (Isen, 1990, p. 89).
In like manner, self determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 2000) provides a clear framework
to strengths use, antecedents, and consequences. SDT emphasizes that individuals strive to
perform an activity because they find it interesting and pleasurable and thus have autonomous (vs.
controlled) motivation to (Deci & Ryan, 2000; Grant, 2008). In turn, autonomous motivation is the
consequence of positive attitude, well-being, and happiness (see Gagné & Deci, 2005 for a review).
It means that when individuals feel good about themselves using their strengths (Linley &
Harrington, 2006), they become intrinsically motivated to try (Linley, Nielsen, Wood, Gillett, &
Biswas-Diener, 2010). Benninga, Berkowitz, Kuehn, and Smith (2006) argue that the experiences
that learners have at schools or universities can build their character. Character strength, a
protective factor, helps to decrease negative feelings and enables individuals flourishing (Park &
Peterson, 2008). This includes positive starts, which means to identify, understand, and put
strengths in action plan. Peterson (2006) believes that “learners should recognize, develop, and use
as many strengths of character as possible” (p. 157) and he also claims that educational settings
are great places to teach character. Character education tries to insure that a student’s academic
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abilities are developed in union with his/her character strength (Berkowitz & Bier, 2004; Lickona,
1993) which is in line with the positive education movement (Seligman, Ernst, Gillham, Reivich,
& Linkins, 2009).
As a result, the fundamental consideration of positive psychology is a thorough attention to the
pleasant experiences that educational settings can build. It means the learners are happy in the
environment in which they obtain instructions they will learn easily and more permanently (Cohn &
Fredrickson, 2009). The study of positive emotion in SLA in particular, is a potentially rich and
powerful direction for future investigations (Gabryś-Barker & Gałajda, 2016; MacIntyre et al.,
2016). Accordingly, enhancing EFL learners’ positive emotions needs to be at the focus of research
attention, serving as a tool to foster human being’s wellbeing specifically in field of second language
acquisition.
2.2 Positive Psychology and Goal Setting
Our goals are what we try to attain, the object or purpose of an action (Lock, Shaw, Saari, &
Latham, 1981). In its academic sense, the students set some goals as achieving skills and
knowledge, accomplishing work, and getting good scores in a course. In other word, they
understand, monitor, and follow their goal progress (Bandura, 1988; Locke & Latham, 1990).
Accordingly, goals are motivating forces to make individual invest much time and energy and
show persistence to focus their attention on related task features and the strategies which facilitate
their task accomplishment (Locke & Latham, 1990).
Setting goals for our life can increase our motivation to go on. In fact, strong integration of goals
and motivation is the reason why most definitions of motivation incorporate goals. As an example,
Mitchell (1982) defines motivation as “the psychological processes that bring consciousness,
direction, and persistence of willful actions that are goal centered” (p. 81). However, the influence
of goals on motivation and behavior depend on goals strength and quality. For instance, it has long
been known that giving people particular designed goals to accomplish rather than telling them to
do without defining their goals boosts their motivation (see Locke & Brian, 1966; Brian & Locke,
1967; Locke & Latham, 2002). By the same token, setting goals enhances achievement. A variety
of studies provide evidence that setting goals develops success rate in different environments
specifically educational settings (Latham & Locke, 2007
; Locke & La tham, 1990). In academic
contexts, when students have clear goals, they are more likely to try to close the gap between their
present stand or ability and the desired objectives (Hattie & Timperly, 2007). Several studies have
shown that setting attainable goals increases individuals’ likelihood of achieving, pursuing, and
fulfilling their wants. When teachers set certain educational goals, learners have an explicit and
exact image of course expectations which helps them to concentrate their attempt effectively
toward the attainment of their goals (Hattie & Timperly, 2007).
In addition, goals motivate learners to invest much time, energy, and effort to accomplish the task
features and the strategies which guarantee their success in the task (Bandura, 1986, 1988, cited in
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Schunk, 1990). Goals do not basically enhance learning and motivation, but their properties,
proximity, and difficulty are of most significance (Bandura, 1977; Latham & Yukl, 1975; Locke,
1968; Locke et al., 1981; Schunk, 1984). The relationship between goal setting and learner’s
wellbeing has been well documented in the literature. Different studies have acknowledged that
setting goals and following them is related to issues of wellbeing (e.g., Brunstein, 1993; Cantor &
Sanderson, 2003; Emmons, 1986). In effect, the learners who follow personally designed goals
experience higher levels of satisfaction than persons who have no clear goal in mind (e.g., Freund
& Baltes, 2002). Furthermore, not only setting goals influences wellbeing but also the perception
of making progress or even accomplishing these goals have some positive outcomes (e.g.,
Brunstein, 1993; Wiese, 2007). While Some researchers claim that ‘‘setting goals’’ is adequate for
boosting happiness (e.g., Freund & Baltes, 2002; Klinger, 1977), other researchers have illustrated
that the goal content (e.g., Emmons, 1991; Kasser & Ryan, 1993) and appraisal (e.g., opportunity
for goal comprehension: Emmons, 1986; perceived support: McGregor & Little, 1998; motive
congruence: Brunstein et al., 1998) is relevant to wellbeing.
Despite the importance of PP and its capability to make a change in students’ GS, to the best of
our knowledge, very few studies have examined how pp can boost GS especially in EFL contexts.
Consequently, this article is the first—though not an exhaustive—attempt to identify this hidden
effect.

3. Method
3.1 Participants
Participants of the present quasi-experimental study were 36 (29 female and 7 male) MA students of
the University of Kerman, Iran, majoring in TEFL. They were selected by administering TOFEL to
a group of 45 students from whom thirty six students were chosen. During the instruction, attempts
were made to provide the two groups with equal opportunities in terms of class time, the number of
sessions, and materials used. The participants were between the ages of 22 and 35, and they had
learned English only through classroom instruction. All participants of the current study were L1
speakers of Persian and confirmed their interest to take part in the present study by signing a
consent form after receiving information about the aims and the main scope of the research, the
data to be collected and their right to withdraw from the study at any time. To meet the main
requirement of experimental research and to ensure that the learners were homogenous with
respect to their English proficiency level and their GS interest, the Test of English as a Foreign
Language (TOEFL), along with the Erickson et al. (2015) Goal Setting Questionnaire were
administered as pretests.

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3.2 Instrument
To assess the participants’ level of goal setting, the Goal Setting Questionnaire (GSQ) by Erickson
et al. (2015) was used. The eighteen closed—ended items of the questionnaire on the measure were
rated on a 5-point scale with related labels (not very like me to very like me). Additionally, the
Cronbach Alpha reliability of the measure with the present sample was calculated to be .86. Hence,
the questionnaire was deemed to be a reliable instrument for eliciting the intended data.
3.3 Procedure
The present quantitative study was conducted over thirteen sessions between September and
December 2017. The following four steps made the smooth sequence of the current study: 1)
proficiency pretest with the control and experimental groups, 2) goal setting pretest with the control
and experimental groups, 3) integration of PP into classroom activities and raising students’
awareness to their strengths in the experimental group, and 4) goal setting posttest with both groups.
In this study, the independent variable (positive psychology) is considered to have a direct effect on
the dependent variable (goal setting). The two classes were conducted by the same teacher who was
one of the researchers in the present study. The course book, and the instructional materials, as well
as the procedure were identical for the participants of the two groups. In both groups, about 60 mints
of the class time was devoted to working with the course book, and the rest (30 mints) to watching
CSBPP clips. By adopting a character strength-based approach, we assisted the students to set
attainable goals. To this aim, at first the learners tried to have a good understanding and feeling of
what their qualities, skills and abilities were focusing on their strengths and psychological capacities
that could be measured, developed, and effectively managed. And then based on their personal and
professional strengths they started to set their future goals. During this period, the learners in
control group were given some instructional tasks based on the course book topics.

4. Results
As stated above, the present study was conducted with the main goal of exploring the effect of
positive psychology on EFL learners’ goal setting. Consequently, a basic quantitative research
design was adopted to collect and analyse the data in the present study. To identify whether a
significant change occurred in the goal setting of each group between the beginning and the end of
the study, paired samples T-Test and independent samples T-Tests were used, with the alpha level
set at .05. The result of paired sample t-test analysis showed a moderate difference in the mean
scores for the pre test (M1=38.61, SD1=4.37) and posttest (M2=46.22, SD2=4.37) of control group,
t=-5.06,df=17, p<0.01, and the effect size was ES=1.63 and r=.0.63 .But the results strongly
confirmed a significant difference in the mean scores for experimental group in pre- test (M1=37.28,
SD1=3.59) and post-test (M2=72.22, SD2=4.25), t=-26.38, df=17, p<0.01), and the effect size was
ES=8.91 and r=0.976.
The result of the independent t-test analysis did not show a significant difference in the mean scores
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for control and experimental group in pre-test (M2=37.28, SD2=18) and post-test (M1=38.61,
SD1=4.94), t= .93, df=34. P<0.01. But the results strongly confirmed a significant difference in the
mean scores for control and experimental group in pre- test (M1=46.22, SD1=4.37) and post-test
(M2=72.22, SD2=4.25), t=-18.09, df=34, p<0.01, and the effect size was ES=6.03 and r=0.949.

Table 1. Paired T-Test of Goal Setting

Time N Mean Std. Deviation T-Test df P-Value
Post test 25 38.61 4.94 .93 34 0.36
Control
experimental 25 37.28 3.59

Table 2. Independent T-Test of Goal Setting

Time N Mean Std. Deviation T-Test df P-Value
Post test Control 18 46.22 4.37 -18.09 34 0.000
experimental 18 72.22 4.25

5. Discussion
Given the growing interest in PP and strengths use in the academic and professional environments,
the present study sought to examine the effectiveness of implementing a strength-based positive
psychology intervention for the first time in an EFL setting. Regarding the research question—1)
Does positive psychology have any significant impact on EFL learners’ gaol setting–the results of
this study presented in Tables 1 & 2 demonstrated that the positive psychology was successful and
helped EFL learners understand, value and build their goals. According to the data analysis, the
current study provides a practical recommendation on how to help learners set their goals based on
a self-determination theory of character strength. In other words, the emphasis in this study is on
EFL learners’ individual strengths and personal motivation as a drive to set their goals. Peterson and
Park (2009) assert that character strengths and capacities exist within all of us. From this
perspective, the mission of PP is not to enforce or impose, but rather to care, trigger, and nurture
existing strengths. In this study characters are not considered as fixed and narrowly defined
constructs. Accordingly, PP views characters as multifaceted, dynamic, idiosyncratic, and specific
to the individual. Within the context of this study, a new direction of positive character is to help
the students understand and effectively use their unique character strengths to set their future
goals.
Moreover, the results supported the Bandura’s (1982) self-efficacy theory, that self-respect is the
basic motivating force of goal-setting. The findings of the current study concur with other studies
that show goal setting is a significant construct relevant to a variety of positive psychology

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upshots, including overall psychological adjustment, positive emotion, social confidence,

prosaically behavior, and life satisfaction (Diener, Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985; Leary &
MacDonald, 2003).
The findings confirm a supportive role for positive affections, a topic not completely studied in
SLA but which might provide productive paths of enquiry for future research (MacIntyre &
Mercer, 2014). These results contribute to the flourishing interest in applications of positive
psychology in SLA (Gabryś-Barker & Gałajda, 2016; MacIntyre et al., 2016), and in particular
related to strengths theory (Clifton & Nelson, 1992) which reflects understanding, accepting, and
building on human strengths and capacities (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

6. Conclusion
As indicated earlier, the present study set out to investigate the impact of implementing PP in EFL
classes on students’ GS ability. The results indicated the positive and significant impact of PP on GS.
In other words, the integration of PP in EFL classes tends to foster TEFL university students’ GS. It
can be plausibly argued that positive emotions considered as the outcome of character strength
expand learners’ strength awareness to build future goals. This leads positive emotions to positive
outcomes, a process that contributes directly to the personal and professional goal growth. Thus,
using their strengths, the learners have the confidence in their own ability to achieve a goal, would
believe that reaching the goal is probable with sufficient effort, would overcome obstacles and
redirect strategies to reach the goal, and would bounce back from adversity to reach even higher
levels of goal attainment. In other words, positive psychology brings the feeling of having a purpose
in a meaningful life (Steger, Kashdan, & Oishi, 2008). Possessing such sense of meaning in life has
been shown to be associated with satisfaction, self realization, and feelings of fulfillment (Steger et
al., 2008). We realized that because the learners felt good about themselves when using their
strengths, they became intrinsically motivated to set their own personal and professional goals.
Moreover, they had the confidence in their own ability to achieve their goals, and believed that
reaching the goals was probable with sufficient effort.

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