When Learning Goal Orientation Leads to Learning From Failure: The Roles of Negative Emotion Coping Orientation and Positive Grieving

Wenzhou Wang; Shanghao Song; Xiaoxuan Chen; Wenlong Yuan

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.608256

When Learning Goal Orientation Leads to Learning From Failure: The Roles of Negative Emotion Coping Orientation and Positive Grieving

Front Psychol. 2021 Apr 29:12:608256. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.608256. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Wenzhou Wang¹, Shanghao Song¹, Xiaoxuan Chen¹, Wenlong Yuan²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Human Resource Management, Business School, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China.
² Department of Business Administration, Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.

Abstract

Considering failure is a common result in project management, how to effectively learn from failure has becoming a more and more important topic for managers. Drawing on the goal orientation theory and grief recovery theory, the purpose of this paper is to clarify the impact of learning goal orientation on learning from failure. Furthermore, this paper examines the mediating effect of two negative emotion coping orientations (restoration orientation and loss orientation) and the moderating effect of positive grieving in this relationship. The results indicated that: (1) A learning goal orientation is positively related to learning from failure; (2) As a dual-path mediation model, restoration orientation and loss orientation mediate the relationship between a learning goal orientation and learning from failure; and (3) Positive grieving negatively moderates the relationship between a loss orientation and learning from failure.

Keywords: learning from failure; learning goal orientation; loss orientation; positive grieving; restoration orientation.