Abstract
Past research suggests that focusing on what has not yet been accomplished (goal focus) signals a lack of progress towards one's high commitment goals and inspires greater motivation than does focusing on what has already been accomplished (accomplishment focus). The present investigation extends this research to a longitudinal, important domain by exploring the consequences of focusing on one's goals versus accomplishments when pursuing a weight loss goal. Participants were tracked over the course of a 12-week weight loss program that utilized weekly group discussions and a companion website to direct participants' focus toward their end weight loss goal or toward what they had already achieved. Goal-focused participants reported higher levels of commitment to their goal and, ultimately, lost more weight than did accomplishment-focused and no focus control participants. Accomplishment-focused participants did not differ from controls on any measure.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 853-855 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |
Volume | 47 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2011 |
Keywords
- Comparison standards
- Goals
- Motivation
- Self-regulation
- Weight loss