Methane Production and Recovery Opportunities for Small Farmers with Goats and Sheep

This study assessed whether five hypothesized requirements for goal achievement predicted participants' success or failure in achieving a goal. Amazon Mechanical Turk users (n=182) were randomly assigned either to identify a recent goal they had accomplished or failed to accomplish. These hypothesized requirements were derived from prior research and include sufficient social support, time availability, enjoyment, accessibility, and motivation (STEAM). We first developed a 44-item scale to measure the presence of these STEAM elements for any particular goal (overall alpha=.91, factor analysis supported the five STEAM variable model). In addition, participants responded to the General Procrastination Scale. Participants' STEAM measure scores were significantly lower for failed goals than achieved goals (Cohen's d=1.36, a large effect). A discriminant-function analysis, with STEAM and procrastination scores serving as the predictor variables, was 76.2% accurate in determining which participants succeeded vs. failed in goal achievement. STEAM served as the largest contributor to these predictions. These results have broad implications for overcoming barriers to goal achievement and for helping people create the conditions for success. This approach underscores the benefit of a situationist perspective on goal achievement, rather than attributing goal success/failure to the person.