30 checked facts

Motivation

Everything on this site about motivation — each one naming the study behind it.

You perceive objects as closer when you want them.
Your level of desire for a physical object influences your visual perception of how close it is to you.…
You fail to reach goals by ignoring obstacles ahead.
Mental contrasting demonstrates that visualizing success without anticipating specific obstacles actually reduces your…
You perform worse when you feel forced into a task.
Research into learned helplessness shows that repeated exposure to uncontrollable situations leads to subsequent passi…
You spend more time on tasks that offer no reward.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng found that people persist with a task longer if they believe they are maki…
You prioritize small gains over large rewards.
The 'present bias' is an economic model describing the tendency to value smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delay…
You naturally prefer effortful thinking over simple, automated shortcuts.
The 'need for cognition' trait measures a person's intrinsic tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful mental exertion…
You actively block your own goals to focus.
Goal shielding is the process where the activation of a target goal inhibits the accessibility of competing goals.…
Your motivation drops when you feel external pressure.
Autonomy is a fundamental requirement for long-term intrinsic task engagement.…
You want things that you do not enjoy.
Incentive salience distinguishes between the act of wanting a reward and the actual pleasure of consuming it.…
You are driven either by hope or caution.
Regulatory focus theory identifies two different motivational systems: a promotion focus on achievement and a preventi…
You only act when the result seems possible.
Expectancy theory states that motivation is the multiplicative product of three factors: expectancy (that effort leads…
Rewards often destroy your interest in things you enjoyed.
The overjustification effect demonstrates that when you are incentivized to perform a task you already like, your intr…
You want a thing more precisely because it is forbidden.
Research by Jack Brehm in 1966 suggests that restricting your freedom to choose leads to a sudden increase in the perc…
One small slip leads you to abandon everything.
The belief that a goal requires perfect execution turns a minor lapse into a total failure.…
Your motivation increases as you approach a finish line.
The study using loyalty card stamps to demonstrate the goal gradient effect was conducted by Nunes and Drèze in 2006.…
You value things more after working for them.
Effort justification leads you to increase your valuation of a goal simply because it was difficult to achieve.…
You work harder as you approach a finish line.
The 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng demonstrated that providing artificial, or 'illusionary,' progress towar…
You stop loving things when you are paid.
Introducing external rewards for an activity you enjoy can reduce your intrinsic motivation to do it.…
You sabotage your own work to protect your ego.
A 1978 study showed that students would rather choose a drug that hinders their performance than risk failing without …
Rewards can turn your favorite hobby into a chore.
Extrinsic incentives often reduce the intrinsic motivation you initially felt for an activity.…
You work significantly faster as you approach a goal.
The goal gradient effect shows that the closer you are to finishing a task, the more effort you invest to complete it.…
You keep reading this book because you started.
Investing time or money in a failing venture makes you paradoxically more likely to continue investing further.…
Rewarding a behavior you enjoy will make you quit.
The overjustification effect occurs when external incentives decrease your intrinsic motivation to perform an activity…
You work faster as the finish line appears.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng provided empirical evidence supporting the goal gradient effect in consume…
You are more motivated on the first of January.
A 2014 study found that people seek more 'fresh start' opportunities during temporal landmarks like birthdays or new y…
You exert less individual effort when working in groups.
The phenomenon of reduced individual output in groups is known as the Ringelmann effect, which was later named social …
Rewarding a task you enjoy kills your intrinsic motivation.
The foundational 1973 study by Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett demonstrated the effect using art and drawing activities, n…
You work harder as you approach a goal.
A 2006 study by Kivetz, Urminsky, and Zheng empirically resurrected the 1932 'goal-gradient hypothesis' by showing tha…
Rewards can destroy your love for a hobby.
A 1973 study showed children offered a reward for drawing spent significantly less time drawing during subsequent free…
You value a goal more when it requires significant effort.
A 1959 study demonstrated that individuals rated a discussion group as more interesting if they had to undergo an emba…