title: First on the List: Effectiveness at Self-Regulation and Prioritizing Difficult Exercise Goal Pursuit.
abstract: Identifying and understanding the goal pursuit strategies that distinguish effective self-regulators from less effective self-regulators is important for elucidating how individuals achieve their goals. We suggest that the timing of plans for difficult goal pursuits is one differentiation. A pilot study shows that effective self-regulators tend to believe they are best suited to pursue difficult goals earlier in the day, and two studies provide evidence that effective and less effective self-regulators differ in the timing of their plans for difficult goal pursuits. Results indicate that when exercising is perceived as difficult goal pursuit, effective self-regulators prioritize that difficult goal pursuit by planning to exercise earlier in the day whereas less effective self-regulators plan exercise for later in the day.
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia.
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Delose
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia.
authors.forename: Michelle R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: vanDellen
authors.affiliation: Duke University.
authors.forename: Rick H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Hoyle
keywords: goal pursuit; planning; self-control; self-regulation