title: Round numbers as goals: evidence from baseball, SAT takers, and the lab.
abstract: Where do people's reference points come from? We conjectured that round numbers in performance scales act as reference points and that individuals exert effort to perform just above rather than just below such numbers. In Study 1, we found that professional baseball players modify their behavior as the season is about to end, seeking to finish with a batting average just above rather than below .300. In Study 2, we found that high school students are more likely to retake the SAT after obtaining a score just below rather than above a round number. In Study 3, we conducted an experiment employing hypothetical scenarios and found that participants reported a greater desire to exert more effort when their performance was just short of rather than just above a round number.
authors.affiliation: The Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Devin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pope
authors.forename: Uri
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Simonsohn
mesh_terms: D001077:Aptitude Tests; D054874:Athletic Performance / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D001484:Baseball / Q000523:psychology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment / Q000502:physiology; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D012015:Reference Standards