The timing of help: Receiving help toward the end (vs. beginning) undermines psychological ownership and subjective well-being.

Giving help is a generous act, but it can cause psychological distress for the recipients by inducing feelings of dependency, incompetence, or indebtedness. The current research identifies a novel factor-the of help in the course of an activity-that modulates the negative effect of help on the recipient's subjective well-being. Across nine studies, we show that people experience less happiness and satisfaction when they receive help in a later (vs.

Pursuing goals with others: group identification and motivation resulting from things done versus things left undone.

This article addresses what factors best motivate individuals to work toward shared goals. We propose that when individuals do not identify highly with a group, their contributions will mimic others': An emphasis on things done will increase their contributions toward achieving a goal, because such emphasis suggests the goal is worth pursuing. Conversely, we propose that when individuals identify highly with a group, their contributions will compensate for others': An emphasis on things left undone will increase their own contributions, because missing contributions suggest insufficient progress toward a goal they already consider worthwhile.

Climbing the goal ladder: how upcoming actions increase level of aspiration.

Pursuing a series of progressive (e.g., professional) goals that form a goal ladder often leads to a trade-off between moving up to a more advanced level and repeating the same goal level.

Dynamics of self-regulation: How (un)accomplished goal actions affect motivation.

Two factors increase the motivation to adhere to a goal: goal commitment and lack of goal progress. When people ask about commitment, focusing on what they have accomplished (to date) signals to them high commitment and increases motivation. Conversely, when commitment is certain and people ask about goal progress, focusing on what they have yet to accomplish (to go) signals to them lack of progress and increases motivation.