%0 Report
        %A Koch, Alexander K.
%A Nafziger, Julia
        %T Self-Regulation through Goal Setting
        %D 2008
        %8 2008 Dec
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 3893
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp3893
        %X Goals are an important source of motivation. But little is known about why and how people set them. We address these questions in a model based on two stylized facts from psychology and behavioral economics: i) Goals serve as reference points for performance. ii) Present-biased preferences create self-control problems. We show how goals permit self-regulation, but also that they are painful self-disciplining devices. Greater self-control problems therefore lead to stronger self-regulation through goals only up to a certain point. For severely present-biased preferences, the required goal for self-regulation is too painful and the individual rather gives up.
        %K self-control
%K time inconsistency
%K motivation
%K psychology
%K goals