Mere Exposure to Money Motivates Goal Attainment

How do people achieve their goals? Goal performance has been linked to goal setting, dedication to achieving the goal, self-perceptions of being able to achieve the goal, and the goal’s value to the individual (Heath et al., 1999; Vroom, 1964). Being motivated (i.e., feeling energized toward pursuing the goal) helps too (Locke & Latham, 1990). The current article offers the idea of money, as a simple environmental cue, can aid goal pursuit. The use of money is intimately tied to goal pursuit. When people use money, they do so to close a gap between a current and desired end-point, the definition of goal pursuit (Baumeister, 1998; Carver & Scheier, 1990). Money is also linked to goal attainment in another manner. The largest source of money gain is earnings, which means that people apply persistence, skill, or other behaviors to perform jobs that meet an acceptable standard. Hence, there are two distinct ways that money and goal pursuit are intertwined – through spending and earning it. Due to their frequent pairing, the very concepts of money and a goal might stimulate energetic and motivated reactions. We predicted an interaction between being reminded of money and the presence of goal in determining motivated behavior.