A Longitudinal Study of Motivation and Goal Difficulty on Goal Progress and Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII).

Abstract

This study investigated longitudinal impact of autonomous motivation and controlled motivation on goal progress at both between- and within-person levels. Additionally, it examined whether MCII, a metacognitive strategy, would moderate associations between controlled motivation and goal-related outcomes, and explored potential relationships between goal motives and within-person variability in goal-related outcomes. Individuals reported more within-person variability in goal progress and less variability in time spent on goal pursuit when they had stronger controlled motivation.