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When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit

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  • Fishbach, Ayelet
  • Choi, Jinhee

Abstract

We explore how attending to the goals an activity achieves (i.e., its instrumentality) impacts the motivation to pursue the activity. We propose that the focus on the activity’s instrumentality renders the activity more valuable yet its experience less positive. Because experience is mainly salient while pursuing (vs. planning) an activity, attending to the activity’s instrumentality increases the intention to pursue the activity but decreases how persistently individuals pursue it. We document this impact of attending to goals on increased intentions but decreased persistence on various activities, from a exercising on a treadmill (Study 1) and creating origami (Study 2) to dental flossing (Study 3) and practicing yoga (Study 4).

Suggested Citation

  • Fishbach, Ayelet & Choi, Jinhee, 2012. "When thinking about goals undermines goal pursuit," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 99-107.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:118:y:2012:i:2:p:99-107
    DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.02.003
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kanfer, Ruth & Chen, Gilad, 2016. "Motivation in organizational behavior: History, advances and prospects," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 6-19.
    2. Lieberman, Alicea & Amir, On & Carmon, Ziv, 2023. "The entrenchment effect: Why people persist with less-preferred behaviors," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    3. Paulo Albuquerque & Merrie Brucks & Margaret C. Campbell & Kara Chan & Michal Maimaran & Anna R. McAlister & Sophie Nicklaus, 2018. "Persuading Children: a Framework for Understanding Long-Lasting Influences on Children’s Food Choices," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 5(1), pages 38-50, March.
    4. Yuping Liu-Thompkins & Shintaro Okazaki & Hairong Li, 2022. "Artificial empathy in marketing interactions: Bridging the human-AI gap in affective and social customer experience," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(6), pages 1198-1218, November.
    5. Yu-dong Zhang & Hui-long Zhang & Jia-qin Xie & Chu-bing Zhang, 2023. "The influence of self-quantification on individual’s participation performance and behavioral decision-making in physical fitness activities," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Arghya Ray & Pradip Kumar Bala, 2019. "Predicting User Motivation Towards Retention of e-Services: An NLP-based Approach," International Journal of Business and Administrative Studies, Professor Dr. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, vol. 5(1), pages 01-08.
    7. Woolley, Kaitlin & Fishbach, Ayelet, 2018. "Underestimating the importance of expressing intrinsic motivation in job interviews," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 1-11.
    8. Jung, Eun Jin & Lee, Sujin, 2015. "The combined effects of relationship conflict and the relational self on creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 44-57.
    9. Friedrich, Julia & Becker, Michael & Kramer, Frederik & Wirth, Markus & Schneider, Martin, 2020. "Incentive design and gamification for knowledge management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 341-352.
    10. Dolan, Paul & Galizzi, Matteo M., 2015. "Like ripples on a pond: Behavioral spillovers and their implications for research and policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-16.
    11. Jin, Liyin & Xu, Qian & Wang, Yajin & Zhang, Ying, 2021. "The divergent impact of reward magnitude on goal eagerness and effort investment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 101-113.

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