When bonuses backfire: An inaction inertia analysis of procrastination induced by a missed opportunity

Thane S. Pittman, Orit E. Tykocinski, Ruty Sandman-Keinan, Pamela A. Matthews

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

An inaction inertia analysis of procrastination was used to generate the prediction that using bonuses to encourage early task completion will have two opposing effects, encouraging early task completion by some but also inducing procrastination for those who miss the bonus. Study 1 showed that the addition of bonuses for early completion produced both of these effects and also led to overall task completion rates that were either equal to (large bonus) or actually less than (medium and small bonuses) those obtained by simply establishing a completion deadline with no bonus. In Study 2, a lottery methodology was used to manipulate the size of a missed bonus for all participants. Even under these conditions of reduced personal responsibility the larger missed bonus led to increased procrastination as predicted by the inaction inertia analysis. Possible mediating processes based on anticipated regret and perceived fairness were discussed.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)139-150
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Behavioral Decision Making
Volume21
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2008

Keywords

  • Bonus
  • Counterfactual thinking
  • Inaction inertia
  • Procrastination
  • Task avoidance

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Decision Sciences
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Applied Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Strategy and Management

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