Tomorrow is Another Day: How a Fresh Start Mindset Relates to Goal Orientations and Work Performance

A fresh start mindset implies the belief of “turning over a new leaf”. To understand the fresh start mindset in the workplace, we uncovered the goal-orientated motivating mechanisms underlying the effect of ‘fresh start mindsets’ on work performance, as well as the moderating effect of job self-efficacy in this process. Based on a multi-phase sample of 279 employees and their direct supervisors, we found that the fresh start mindset is positively related to learning goal orientation but not proving or avoiding goal orientation. However, the above-mentioned relationships turned out to be significant when job self-efficacy is at a higher level, such that a fresh start mindset is positively related to learning and proving goal orientations and negatively related to avoiding goal orientation. Additionally, the interactive effect of the fresh start mindset and job self-efficacy further impact employees’ task performance, voice, and silence through different goal orientations. Implications and practices are discussed.