ABSTRACT
Self-regulation, broadly defined, involves goal pursuit including the more effective use of resources closer to a goal. The closer one gets to a goal, the higher the motivation and the greater the investment of resources. This “goal looms larger” principle is accepted as a general principle in psychology and finds a lot of support in empirical studies: Students study harder for an exam as it gets closer, rats pull harder the closer they get to the reinforcement, and participants avoid adverse situations the closer they are to them. The goal looms larger principle is based on Hull’s (1943) theory of motivation and was described and more closely examined by Miller (1944, 1959). Motivation was defined as a product of habit and drive, where drive is equivalent to the extent of need (e.g., hunger, pain) and habit is the strength of association between action and outcome. Goal gradients (i.e., changes in motivation over distance to the goal) stem from changes over distance in habit, drive, or both. Lewin (1951) also assumed that motivation increases closer to a goal. He conceptualized desired and undesired end states as forces that operate on individuals, and assumed that like physical forces (e.g. gravitation), forces exerted by desired and avoided goals are inversely related to distance. Supporting goal gradients, enhanced motivation closer to the goal has been observed in several studies, with both animals and humans (e.g., Brown, 1948; Förster, Idson & Grant, 2001; Gjesme, 1974; Losco & Epstein, 1977; Miller & Kraeling, 1952; Miller & Murray, 1952; Murray & Berkun, 1955; Rigby, 1954; Smith, 1965). Recent studies also examined cognitive underpinnings of goal gradients and showed that goal-related concepts become increasingly accessible closer to a goal (Förster, Liberman, & Higgins, 2005; Denzler, Förster, & Liberman, in press).
