SO FAR AWAY: THE ROLE OF SUBJECTIVE TEMPORAL DISTANCE TO FUTURE GOALS IN MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOR

The current research examined the self-enhancement, motivational, and behavioral implications of subjective distance to future goals. Study I revealed that students felt subjectively closer in time to anticipated success than to expected failure on a midterm, which may reflect a self-protective mechanism keeping self-threats at bay. Additionally, those who felt more distant from the exam performed more poorly (controlling for expectations). Conceivably, increased psychological distance, while self-protective, might also reduce goal pursuit motivation. In Study 2, first-year students who were induced to feel close to their graduation reported greater academic motivation than those induced to feel far from graduation. In Study 3, we examined a model of how distancing predicts motivation, which subsequently promotes goal-oriented behavior. Participants who felt close to an upcoming aptitude test were more motivated to prepare for and to perform well on the test, and in turn, practiced more for the test.