Motivation and self‐regulation: The role of want‐to motivation in the processes underlying self‐regulation and self‐control
By K. Werner, M. Milyavskaya. Social & Personality Psychology Compass, 2018
93 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Research on self-regulation has largely focused on the idea of effortful self-control, which assumes that exerting willpower will lead to greater success. However, in recent years, research has challenged this perspective and instead proposes that effortless self-regulation is more adaptive for long-term goal pursuit. Taking into consideration the burgeoning literature on effortless self-regulation, here we propose that motivation – or the reasons why we pursue our goals – plays an integral role in this process. The objective of the present paper is thus to highlight how motivation can play a role in how self-regulation unfolds. Specifically, we propose that pursuing goals because you want-to (vs. have-to) is associated with better goal attainment as a function of experiencing less temptations and obstacles. While the reason why want-to motivation relates to experiencing fewer obstacles has yet to be thoroughly explored, here we propose some potential mechanisms drawing from recent research on self-regulation. We also provide recommendations for future research, highlighting the importance of considering motivation in the study of self-regulatory processes.
Subfields: Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management, Social Psychology
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/999afb6a50518e1a3efbbb17b8237f826b2cfd64
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Citations in the corpus
- Self-regulation in childhood as a predictor of future outcomes: A meta-analytic review. (2020, background): “Research in child samples has most often focused on the latter and the two Self-regulation in Childhood 6 terms are often used interchangeably (e.g., de Ridder, Lensvelt-Mulders, Finkenauer, Stok, & Baumeister, 2012; also see Werner & Milyavskaya, 2019).”