The Procrastination Equation (28 page)

Fineman, S. (2006). On being positive: Concerns and counterpoints. The Academy of Management Review, 31(2), 270–291.

Gilovich, T. (2005). The perceived likelihood of events that “tempt fate.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans.

Held, B. (2002). The tyranny of the positive attitude in America: Observation and speculation. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(9), 965–991.

Recken, S. L. (1993). Fitting-in: The redefinition of success in the 1930s. Journal of Popular Culture, 27(3), 205–222.

Woolfolk, R. L. (2002). The power of negative thinking: Truth, melancholia, and the tragic sense of life. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 22(1), 19–27.

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Nenkov, G. Y., Inman, J. J., & Hulland, J. (2008). Considering the future: The conceptualization and measurement of elaboration on potential outcomes. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(1), 126–141.

Pearson, C. M., & Clair, J. A. (1998). Reframing crisis management. The Academy of Management Review, 23(1), 59–76.

Schneider, S. L. (2001). In search of realistic optimism. Meaning, knowledge, and warm fuzziness. American Psychologist, 56(3), 250–263.

Yordanova, G. S. (2006). Effects of the pre-decision stage of decision making on the self-regulation of behavior. Unpublished PhD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PN.

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Jones, F., Harris, P., Waller, H., & Coggins, A. (2005). Adherence to an exercise prescription scheme: The role of expectations, self-efficacy, stage of change and psychological well-being. British Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 359–378.

Nordgren, L. F., Harreveld, F. V., & Pligt, J. V. D. (2009). The restraint bias: How the illusion of self-restraint promotes impulsive behavior. Psychological Science, 20, 1523–1528.

Norcross, J. C., Mrykalo, M. S., & Blagys, M. D. (2002). Auld Lang Syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year’s resolvers and nonresolvers. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(4), 397–405.

Norcross, J. C., Ratzin, A. C., & Payne, D. (1989). Brief report ringing in the New Year: The change processes and reported outcomes of resolutions. Addictive Behaviors, 14, 205–212.

Polivy, J., & Herman, C. P. (2002). If at first you don’t succeed: False hopes of self-change. American Psychologist, 57(9), 677–689.

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Aspinwall, L. G. (2005). The psychology of future-oriented thinking: From achievement to proactive coping, adaptation, and aging. Motivation and Emotion, 29(4), 203–235.

Aspinwall, L. G., & Taylor, S. E. (1997). A stitch in time: Self-regulation and proactive coping. Psychological Bulletin, 121, 417–436.

Baumeister, R. F., Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. (1994). Losing control: How and why people fail at self-regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, Inc.

Klassen, R. M., Krawchuk, L. L., & Rajani, S. (2008). Academic procrastination of undergraduates: Low self-efficacy to self-regulate predicts higher levels of procrastination. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 33(4), 915–931.

Schwarzer, R. (2008). Modeling health behavior change: How to predict and modify the adoption and maintenance of health behaviors. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57(1), 1–29.

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Known as the abstinence violation effect.

Larimer, M. E., Palmer, R. S., & Marlatt, G. A. (1999). Relapse prevention: An overview of Marlatt’s cognitive-behavioral model. Alcohol Research & Health, 23(2), 151–160.

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Howard Rachlin gives a similar account under the rubric of “restructuring” and Jeong-Yoo Kim considers the same phenomenon from an economic perspective. Another pair of economists, Benabou and Tirole, discuss how it is best to assume that you don’t have the self-control to resist possible addictions, even if there is a good chance you could use without risk. Interestingly, Buddhists actually use an enhanced form of this technique by believing bad choices (i.e., karma) will not only negatively impact your future self but also your future reincarnations.

Ainslie, G. (1992). Picoeconomics: The strategic interaction of successive motivational states within the person. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Ainslie, G. (2001). Breakdown of the will. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Benabou, R., & Tirole, J. (2004). Willpower and personal rules. Journal of Political Economy, 112(4), 848–886.

Kim, J.-Y. (2006). Hyperbolic discounting and the repeated self-control problem. Journal of Economic Psychology, 27(3), 344–359.

Rachlin, H. (2000). The science of self-control. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

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Gosling, J. (1990). Weakness of the will. New York: Routledge.

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Silver, M., & Sabini, J. (1981). Procrastinating. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 11(2), 207–221.

Chapter Eight

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Fried, Y., & Ferris, G. R. (1987). The validity of the Job Characteristics Model: A review and meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 40(2), 287–322.

Hackman, J. R., & Oldham, G. R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: Test of a theory. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 16, 250–279.

Humphrey, S., Nahrgang, J., & Morgeson, F. (2007). Integrating motivational, social, and contextual work design features: A meta-analytic summary and theoretical extension of the work design literature. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(5), 1332–1356.

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Others were involved, such as Frank and Lillian Gilbreth who pioneered time and motion studies. The Gilbreths' work and life were chronicled in a book, Cheaper by the Dozen, written by two of their twelve children (Frank Jr. and Ernestine). Lillian was arguably the first of my kind—an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist—getting a PhD in management psychology (as well as receiving twenty-two other honorary degrees). The book became a film in 1950, not to be confused with the 2003 feature by the same name. This later version, starring Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, has some changes. Instead of Industrial/Organizational Psychology, this adaptation centers around a football coach because apparently there just aren’t enough movies produced each year featuring football.

Kanigel, R. (1997). The one best way: Frederick Winslow Taylor and the enigma of efficiency. New York: Viking Penguin.

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Furthermore, the harder employees worked, the less they were paid for each unit they produced. This is the typical outcome of most piece-rate systems, whereby you get paid for what your produce. Paradoxically, it is an inherent temptation for managers to reduce incentives as employees provide the very performance they were trying to incent. Known as the rachet effect, only a very few companies, like Lincoln Electric, have the discipline to avoid it and make the piece-rate system work.

Handlin, H. (1992). The company built upon the golden rule: Lincoln Electric. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 12, 151–163.

Billikopf, G. (2008). Designing an effective piece rate. Retrieved from: http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7research/7calag06.htm

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Campion, M., Mumford, T., Morgeson, F., & Nahrgang, J. (2005). Work redesign: Eight obstacles and opportunities. Human Resource Management, 44(4), 367–390.

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Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (2000). Evolutionary psychology and the emotions. In M. Lewis & J. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of Emotions (2 ed., pp. 91–115). New York: Guilford Press.

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Science studies the malleable nature of value under the term “psychophysics,” with research emphasizing, as here, that value is constructed (that is, dependent on how it is presented) and relative (i.e., dependent on what it is being compared to).

Weber, E. (2003). Perception matters: Psychophysics for economists. In I. Brocas & J. D. Carrillo (Eds.), The Psychology of Economic Decisions (Vol. II). New York: Oxford University Press.

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Sansone, C., Weir, C., Harpster, L., & Morgan, C. (1992). Once a boring task always a boring task? Interest as a self-regulatory mechanism? Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 63(3), 379–390.

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Csíkszentmihályi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper and Row.

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Johnny Carson of “The Tonight Show” invited her as a guest and pretended to eat her prized Elvis Presley chip. CNN (January 24, 2005). Your Johnny Carson memories. Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/23/your.memories/index.html

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Miller, R. B., & Brickman, S. J. (2004). A model of future-oriented motivation and self-regulation. Educational Psychology Review, 16(1), 9–33.

Schraw, G., & Lehman, S. (2001). Situational interest: A review of the literature and directions for future research. Educational Psychology Review, 13(1), 23–52.

Wolters, C. A. (2003). Understanding procrastination from a self-regulated learning perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(1), 179–187.

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Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78.

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Lonergan, J. M., & Maher, K. J. (2000). The relationship between job characteristics and workplace procrastination as moderated by locus of control. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 15(5), 213–224.

Miller, R. B., & Brickman, S. J. (2004). A model of future-oriented motivation and self-regulation. Educational Psychology Review, 16(1), 9–33.

Shah, J., & Kruglanski, A. (2000). The structure and substance of intrinsic motivation. In C. Sansone & J. M. Harackiewicz (Eds.), Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: The search for optimal motivation and performance (pp. 106–130). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

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I like Franklin Jones' quote to this effect: “Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper bringing-up, a sound set of values—and witnesses.”

Becker, H. (1960). Notes on the concept of commitment. American Journal of Sociology, 66(1), 32–40.

Magen, E., & Gross, J. J. (2007). Harnessing the need for immediate gratification: Cognitive reconstrual modulates the reward value of temptations. Emotion, 7(2), 415–428.

Powell, D., & Meyer, J. (2004). Side-bet theory and the three-component model of organizational commitment. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1), 157–177.

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Newman, T. (December 20, 2008). Barack Obama, I quit smoking—all the time. Newsday. Retrieved from http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opnew205971623dec20,0,6796122.story.

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Elliot, A., & Friedman, R. (2006). Approach-avoidance: A central characteristic of personal goals. In B. R. Little, K. Salmela-Aro & S. D. Phillips (Eds.), Personal project pursuit: Goals, action, and human flourishing (pp. 97–118). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Howell, A. J., & Watson, D. C. (2007). Procrastination: Associations with achievement goal orientation and learning strategies. Personality and Individual Differences, 43(1), 167–178.

Mogilner, C., Aaker, J., & Pennington, G. (2007). Time will tell: The distant appeal of promotion and imminent appeal of prevention. Journal of Consumer Research, 34(5), 670–681.

Polivy, J., & Herman, C. P. (2002). If at first you don’t succeed: False hopes of self-change. American Psychologist, 57(9), 677–689.

Schneider, S. L. (2001). In search of realistic optimism. Meaning, knowledge, and warm fuzziness. American Psychologist, 56(3), 250–263.

Wolters, C. A. (2003). Understanding procrastination from a self-regulated learning perspective. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95(1), 179–187.

Wolters, C. A. (2004). Advancing achievement goal theory: Using goal structures and goal orientations to predict students' motivation, cognition, and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 236–250.

Valkyrie, K. T. (2006). Self-regulated learning: An examination of motivational, cognitive, resource management, metacognitive components and academic outcomes with open admissions community college students. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Houston, Houston, TX.

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Also, you can further upgrade your approach goals by making them about mastery. Mastery is viewing life as a prolonged opportunity to improve, to live to your potential. Each challenge, won or lost, is another step toward consummate skill. Mastery goals much more reliably produce the intrinsic motivation you are looking for. Similarly, those who are already at the top can eke out a little extra motivation by framing their approach goals in terms of prevention; that is, achievement will prevent them from losing their desirable position. Goals that emphasize protecting and maintaining standing and success will help you start a little earlier than everyone else.

Freitas, A. L., Liberman, N., Salovey, P., & Higgins, E. T. (2002). When to begin? Regulatory focus and initiating goal pursuit. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28(1), 121–130.

Molden, D. C., Lee, A. Y., & Higgins, E. T. (2007). Motivations for promotion and prevention. In W. L. G. James Y. Shah (Ed.), Handbook of motivation science (pp. 169–187). New York: Guilford Press.

Rawsthorne, L., & Elliot, A. (1999). Achievement goals and intrinsic motivation: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(4), 326–344.

Pennington, G. L., & Roese, N. J. (2003). Regulatory focus and temporal distance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 563–576.

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Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94.

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Gröpel, P., & Steel, P. (2008). A mega-trial investigation of goal setting, interest enhancement, and energy on procrastination. Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 406–411.

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Reduced energy is another reason why, aside from reduced self-confidence as per the last chapter, depression is connected to procrastination.