Oddly Wired
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motivation

You work harder as you approach a finish line.

The 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng demonstrated that providing artificial, or 'illusionary,' progress toward a goal accelerates the rate of goal achievement.

Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng (2006) expanded upon the well-established goal gradient effect (originally identified by Clark Hull in 1932) to explore how perceived proximity influences consumer behavior in rewards programs.

Your effort is a function of the distance remaining, not the work already done.

Where this comes from

Study
Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng (2006)
What the check found
The 2006 study uses the goal gradient effect as a theoretical framework to study 'illusionary progress,' but it is not the source of the effect itself.
Confidence
Solid, with limits
motivationgoal settingbehavior

Related

One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.