Information, Goal Setting and Performance: A Laboratory Experiment

Last registered on April 22, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Information, Goal Setting and Performance: A Laboratory Experiment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0015822
Initial registration date
April 17, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 22, 2025, 12:09 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Marcus Roel
Affiliation
University of Nottingham Ningbo China
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Haoran He
PI Affiliation
Beijing Normal University
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PI Name
Ronghai Su
PI Affiliation
Beijing Normal University
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PI Name
Qian Weng
PI Affiliation
Renmin University of China
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2025-04-19
End date
2026-04-18
Keywords
Behavior, Lab
Additional Keywords
information; goal setting; biased beliefs; performance; laboratory experiment
JEL code(s)
C91, D83, D90
Secondary IDs
Ministry of Education in China (No. 21YJA790059), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72131003, 72273148 and 72473010).
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We conduct a follow-up laboratory experiment for our paper “Information, Goal Setting and Performance: A Field Experiment”, which explored how information impacts goal setting and performance when students in a university physical education course know or do not know their true relative ability when they set goals based on relative performance rating.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
He, Haoran et al. 2025. "Information, Goal Setting and Performance: A Laboratory Experiment." AEA RCT Registry. April 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.15822-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
n/a
Intervention Start Date
2025-04-19
Intervention End Date
2025-11-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Relative and absolute performance in round 2 for subjects that underestimate, are accurate about, or overestimate (their relative performance). Relative performance is measured as a rank with top 10% as the highest and a descending order using 10% increments. Absolute performance is measured by the number of items they entered correctly.
Goal set about relative performance (i.e., ranking in an experimental session) in round 2 for each type of subjects highlighted above.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Subjects that predict their test 1 performance to be lower (higher) than their actual performance are referred to as subjects that underestimate (overestimate) (their relative performance). Those who correctly estimate their performance are considered as accurate subjects. We also refer to this classification as subjects' type.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Relative and absolute performance in round 2 (independent of type)
Goals set about relative performance in round 2 (independent of type)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
n/a
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
By computer. Treatment assignment is stratified by the three belief categories (underestimation/overestimation/accurate estimation of their test 1 performance) and their test 1 performance level.
Randomization Unit
The unit of randomization is at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
300 individual students
Sample size: planned number of observations
300 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
150 in each treatment arm
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Our sample of 300 subjects was chosen to ensure that we can detect a difference in mean ranking across the two treatments of 1.1 at a standard deviation of 2.154 with a power of 80% in a two-tailed test at 5% significance level for the smallest relevant subgroup (subjects that either underestimate or overestimate their relative performance). To reach the power and significance level conditions, we require 120 subjects for each subgroup. If the actual standard deviation is found to be substantially larger or the group size for the smallest relevant subgroup is found to be substantially smaller, we will adjust the sample size accordingly to maintain our power target of 80%. See the Pre-Analysis Plan attached for more details.
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Nottingham Ningbo China, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
IRB Approval Date
2025-03-27
IRB Approval Number
FHSS-202425-052
Analysis Plan

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