Persistence Motives in Irrational Decisions to Complete a Boring Task

Torleif Halkjelsvik · Jostein Rise

13 citations0/0 files storedPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin

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Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics Experimental Behavioral Economics Studies Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation

Abstract

We explored a novel task paradigm where participants from the online work marketplace Amazon Mechanical Turk were given the choice to quit or continue an unfinished boring task for identical economic rewards. In Studies 1a and 1b, about half the participants chose to continue (corresponding to an average of 55 and 35 cents in foregone earnings). Participants' self-reported reasons for continuing involved various types of persistence motives, reflecting a desire to persist or complete per se. Studies 2, 3a, 3b, and 3c ruled out the possibility that people continued because they enjoyed the task or believed there were additional rewards for continuing. Study 4 showed that the choice to quit/continue was associated with the manner in which the choice was presented (persistence test vs. decision-making test) and individual differences in dispositional persistence motives. The present data indicate that motivational forces independent of the focal reward may affect intertemporal decisions.

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References

2002Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review 1994Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking 1985The psychology of sunk cost 1990A theory of goal setting & task performance 1972Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification.1988The nature of adolescent competencies predicted by preschool delay of gratification.1997Labor Supply of New York City Cabdrivers: One Day at a Time 1970Attention in delay of gratification.

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2023The One-Away Effect: The Pursuit of Mere Completion 2024On the experience of goals: Differentiating goal‐generic value from goal‐specific value 2025When to keep trying and when to let go: Benchmarking optimal quitting.2015Substance use disinhibition associated with economically rational decisions to quit a boring task

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