Introduction

Edwin A. Locke is Dean’s Professor (Emeritus) of Leadership and Motivation at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He received his BA from Harvard in 1960 and his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology from Cornell University in 1964.

He has published more than 336 chapters, notes and articles in professional journals, on such subjects as work motivation, job satisfaction, incentives, and the philosophy of science. He is also the author, co author, editor or co editor of 13 books, including The Selfish Path to Romance: How to Love with Passion and Reason (Platform Press, 2011), Study Methods and Study Motivation (Ayn Rand Bookstore, 2008), Goal Setting: A Motivational Technique That Works (Prentice Hall, 1984, with G. Latham), A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance (Prentice Hall, 1990, with G. Latham), New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance, (Routledge, 2013, with G. Latham), Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior (Blackwell, 2000; 2nd edition, Wiley, 2009, 3rd edition with Craig Pearce, Wiley, 2023 ), The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators (Second Edition, Ayn Rand Bookstore, 2008), Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alternative (JAI: Elsevier, 2003), and The Illusion of Determinism: Why Free Will is Real and Causal (2018) .

He is internationally known for his research on goal setting. A recent survey found that Locke’s goal setting theory (developed with G. Latham) was ranked #1 in importance among 73 management theories. His work has been supported by numerous research grants, and he has served as consultant to research firms and private businesses.

Dr, Locke has been consulting editor for numerous professional journals. He was a winner of the Outstanding Teacher-Scholar Award at the University of Maryland, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Career Contribution Award from the Academy of Management (Human Resource Division), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Management (Organizational Behavior Division), and the James McKeen Cattell Fellow Award from the American Psychological Society. He is interested in the application of the philosophy of Objectivism to behavioral sciences.

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These books are available through Amazon books

The Illusion of Determinism: Why Free Will is Real and Causal

(2018) Many neuroscientists, psychologists and philosophers have argued that the belief in free will is a delusion based on “folk psychology” meaning: naïve beliefs held by ignoramuses. This book will show that the truth is just the opposite: that free will is real and that it is determinism, the doctrine that we have no choice about what we believe, feel or do that is wrong. I show why free will is self-caused, what it consists of (and does not consist of), why determinism is self-contradictory, and why famous experiments which claim to prove determinism prove no such thing. The arguments are not based on religion.

New Developments in Goal Setting and Task Performance

Routledge Academic

This book concentrates on the last twenty years of research in the area of goal setting and performance at work. The editors and contributors believe goals affect action, and this volume will have a lineup of international contributors who look at the recent theories and implications in this area for IO psychologists and human resource management academics and graduate students.

The Selfish Path to Romance: How to Love with Passion and Reason

Platform Press/Winans Kuenstler Publishing

Psychologists Edwin A. Locke and Ellen Kenner offer this thought-provoking and objective guide to finding and nurturing romantic relationships. In this unique look at how we love, you’ll learn that:

• Altruism (self-sacrifice) destroys romance
• Love is not mysterious but understandable
• Love and reason are fully compatible
• Love must be earned, and how to earn it
• Romantic love must be sustained by active thinking
• Conflict is inevitable yet often resolvable

The Prime Movers: Traits of the Great Wealth Creators

Updated Second Edition

What enables the “Prime Movers”—businessmen like Andrew Carnegie, James Hill, Bill Gates—to create wealth on such a vast scale?

To answer this question, Dr. Locke identifies the essential psychological traits of these and other great businessmen from the 19th and 20th centuries. In this book, he notes, “we can see efficacious people at work, people who use their own independent judgment and who—through passion, tenacity, and ability—succeed against all odds.”

Rather than offering an unintegrated series of biographical sketches, The Prime Movers is organized thematically. Chapter headings focus on particular characteristics: independent vision; an active mind; competence and confidence; drive to action; egoistic passion; love of ability in others.

A recurring cast of successful businessmen serves to illustrate these traits. We learn about innovators like Michael Dell, who envisioned the idea of low-cost, high-quality computers marketed directly to consumers. It was Walt Disney’s passion for animation, writes Locke, that drove him to work 20-hour days. Pierre DuPont prized human ability so highly that he bought up other companies solely to acquire their talented employees.

The Prime Movers is not only an examination of the psychological traits of great businessmen, but a moral defense of wealth creation. It points out that many of these Prime Movers (implicitly) embrace the virtues of rationality, productiveness, honesty, egoism and integrity. Rejecting the ubiquitous claims of their denouncers, Dr. Locke argues that these prodigious wealth-creators are not exploitative “fat-cats” who get rich at someone else’s expense; on the contrary, they are men of virtue—if the term is properly understood. They are, he writes, “neither blind emotionalists nor emotionless rationalists. They are passionate lovers of their work and of success, who use reason to guide their choices and actions.” (Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s speech “Why Businessmen Need Philosophy” is included as an appendix to this book.)

This book, which draws on a number of Dr. Locke’s lectures, is full of heroic personalities and valuable guidance. Whether you are curious about “How to Make a Billion Dollars” (as one chapter title puts it), or are a hero-worshipper who admires giants of human ability, this book is an inspiring read.

Study Methods & Motivation: A Practical Guide to Effective Study

Third Edition

An unusually helpful tool for the serious student, this book offers a concrete program for improving study skills by isolating the two fundamentals of successful studying: proper thinking methods and proper motivation.

The principles rigorously detailed are applicable to any educational endeavor—including the world of work. This is an invaluable aid for students and anyone whose life involves studying and learning.

Postmodernism and Management: Pros, Cons and the Alternative

Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Volume 21

JAI: Elsevier

This book contains four chapters by four leading pro-postmodernists, four chapters by anti-postmodernists including an important chapter showing that Immanuel Kant is the source of postmodern thought and identifying the fatal flaw in Kant’s epistemology. The book ends with a chapter showing that Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism is the proper antidote to postmodernist skepticism and nihilism.

Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior Second Edition

Wiley

This book is based on Ayn Rand’s theory of epistemology, specifically her concept of thinking in principles. The book includes contributions from the foremost experts in the various sub-fields of organizational behavior. Each chapter identifies, explains and gives examples from practice of a core principle associated with effective management.

This edition includes an introduction about the need to think in principles and a chapter on emotions by Dr. Locke. Indispensable knowledge for evidence-based management.