Origins of Mere Completion 37 views

People sometimes prioritize completion as if the experience of completion is a reward in itself. We investigate who is most influenced by this tendency and why. Drawing on Self-Determination Theory, we tested whether individual differences in general causality orientations (Study 1) and goal disengagement (Study 2) moderate the tendency to value completion itself using two within-person experiments that contrast a reward-only choice set with a reward/completion choice set. Although neither study yielded reliable moderation by control orientation or goal disengagement, both found that adding a completion opportunity increased selection of the lower-reward option. These findings suggest that while the mere completion effect is replicable, broad motivational styles may not account for who shows it. These results also raise questions about the measurement approach, prompting our pivot to develop a continuous trait measure called the Value of Completion Scale (VOCS). Using 20 items and a two-factor structure, our scale reliably measures the degree to which people feel bothered by incomplete tasks and the degree to which they expect to feel satisfied by completing tasks. Further development of the VOCS will bring a heightened self-awareness among those most likely to value the subjective experience of completion, better equipping them to navigate goal-pursuit decisions in the workplace, classroom, or at home.

MA (Master of Arts)

Goal Pursuit; Motivation; Judgment and Decision Making

English

2026-02-24