Continued goal pursuit in time-bound goals

We examine how motivation to continue pursuing a goal (e.g., lose 20 pounds in 10 weeks) is impacted not only by the extent of the goal progress to date but also by the amount of the time remaining for goal completion, an aspect unique to time-bound goals. We show that the effect of goal progress on motivation to keep pursuing the goal is accentuated when the time remaining for completing a time-bound goal is scarce versus abundant. We also find that this accentuation is stronger for all-or-nothing versus flexible goals. Our research contributes to the understanding of goal progress by presenting resource (time) scarcity’s motivational influence on pursuing time-bound goals.