FOLLOWING A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE THAT DEVELOPS THE THEORY OF GOAL SETTING AS AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE IN MOTIVATING TASK PERFORMANCE, THE METHODOLOGY FOR TESTING THIS THEORY BY COMPARING IT WITH THE EFFECTS OF OTHER INDEPENDENT VARIABLES THOUGHT TO INFLUENCE JOB PERFORMANCE IS DESCRIBED. EXPERIMENTAL SUBJECTS INCLUDED 104 UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS STUDENTS RECRUITED TO PERFORM A SIMULATED CLERICAL TASK IN A REALISTIC WORK ENVIRONMENT. THE EXPERIMENTAL NATURE OF THE JOB STRUCTURE WAS NOT KNOWN TO THE PARTICIPANTS, WHO WERE ASSIGNED RANDOMLY TO A NUMBER OF EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS TO TEST THE EFFECTS OF THE VARIABLES. SOME SUBJECTS WERE ASSIGNED A PRECISE GOAL TO BE ACHIEVED WITHIN A GIVEN TIME FRAME, WHILE OTHERS WERE TOLD THAT THEIR PERFORMANCES WOULD BE EVALUATED IN RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER. A CONTROL GROUP RECEIVED NEITHER OF THESE MOTIVATIONAL PLOYS. IN ADDITION, CONFEDERATES WERE ASSIGNED TO EACH GROUP TO PROVIDE SCRIPTED SOCIAL CUES CATEGORIZED AS POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, AND NEUTRAL IN TERMS OF PEER COMMENTS ABOUT JOB SATISFACTION AND PRODUCTIVITY. A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS ADMINISTERED TO EACH SUBJECT FOLLOWING THE JOB PERFORMANCE TO DETERMINE JOB SATISFACTION LEVEL. RESULTS SHOWED THE FOLLOWING: SUBJECTS WITH ASSIGNED GOALS PRODUCED MORE THAN THOSE WITHOUT ASSIGNED GOALS; SUBJECTS WITH HIGH EVALUATION AWARENESS PRODUCED MORE THAN THOSE WITH LOW EVALUATION AWARENESS; AND SUBJECTS RECEIVING POSITIVE SOCIAL CUES PRODUCED. MORE THAN THOSE RECEIVING NEGATIVE SOCIAL CUES. WHILE THE THREE VARIABLES SHOWED NO DIRECT EFFECTS ON OVERALL JOB SATISFACTION, THERE WERE SOME EFFECTS ON THE MEASURES OF JOB PRESSURE, BOREDOM, AND PERFORMANCE SATISFACTION. GOAL SETTING INCREASED BOTH PERCEIVED JOB PRESSURE AND SATISFACTION WITH ONE'S PERFORMANCE, WHILE POSITIVE SOCIAL CUES INCREASED PERCEIVED JOB PRESSURE AND DECREASED BOREDOM WHEN COMPARED TO NEUTRAL AND NEGATIVE SOCIAL CUES.