Cited by 776Human Behavior and MotivationEmployee Performance and MotivationBehavioral Health and Interventions

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Integrating Theories of Motivation

Steel, Piers, König, Cornelius J.·2006·Academy of Management Review

DOI 10.5465/amr.2006.22527462

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Abstract

Progress toward understanding human behavior has been hindered by discipline-bound theories, dividing our efforts. Fortunately, these separate endeavors are converging and can be effectively integrated. Focusing on the fundamental features of picoeconomics, expectancy theory, cumulative prospect theory, and need theory, we construct a temporal motivational theory (TMT). TMT appears consistent with the major findings from many other investigations, including psychobiology and behaviorism. The potential implications of TMT are numerous, affecting our understanding on a wide range of topics, including group behavior, job design, stock market behavior, and goal setting.

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A meta-model for actor-oriented, person-centered simulation for the management of development projects
Duckwitz, S., Tackenberg, S. M., Karahancer, S., & Schlick, C. M. (2010) · doi:10.1109/icieem.2010.5646045 · Cited by 3
“The algorithm thereby presents important aspects that determine the bounded rational behavior of humans (according to [ 13 ]): • A short deadline leads to a higher priority.”
BackgroundInfluential
An Agent-Based Model of Procrastination
Ruurdje, P., Kamphorst, B. A., van Wissen, A., & Meyer, J. C. (2014) · Frontiers in artificial intelligence and applications · doi:10.3233/978-1-61499-419-0-747 · Cited by 3
“So when the deadline or the consequences are far away, there is more procrastination [29].”
Background
Prokrastination als Coaching-Anliegen
Riediger, M. (2016) · Organisationsberatung Supervision Coaching · doi:10.1007/s11613-016-0479-8 · Cited by 3
CONCEPTUALIZING RESOURCE INTEGRATION IN VALUE CO-CREATION USING THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Findsrud, R., Tronvoll, B., & Edvardsson, B. (2016) · Cited by 3
THE PHENOMENON OF PROCRASTINATION AND PERSPECTIVE OF THIS PROBLEM SOLVING AT UNIVERSITY IN THE CONTEXT OF THE DROPOUT RISK
Katane, I., & Jerkunkova, A. (2020) · SOCIETY INTEGRATION EDUCATION Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference · doi:10.17770/sie2020vol1.5151 · Cited by 5
Behaviour in selection situations as an adaptation to external expectations: testing a theory of self-presentation
Hummert, H., Traum, A., & Marcus, B. (2021) · European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology · doi:10.1080/1359432x.2021.1981866 · Cited by 3
A New Theory of Human Behavior and Motivation
Kopsov, I. (2021) · Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal · doi:10.14738/assrj.810.11088 · Cited by 5
Deterrence and the United States Coast Guard: Enhancing Current Practice with Performance Measures
Palin, P. J., Hall, S. B., & Lewis, T. G. (2012) · Calhoun: The Naval Postgraduate School Institutional Archive (Naval Postgraduate School) · doi:10.13140/rg.2.2.28244.22408 · Cited by 3
Understanding the exergame user experience : users' motivation, attitude and behaviour in a location-aware pervasive exergame for adolescent children
Macvean, A. (2013) · Cited by 3
Why Do Accounting Students Procrastinate? A Qualitative Analysis Using ChatGPTPreprint
Blondeel, E., Everaert, P. C., & Opdecam, E. (2023) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4632334 · Cited by 3
The Impact of Academic Procrastination on Students' Performance in Indian School Education Systems: A Special Research Analysis-Vision 2045Preprint
Dr.Thangavel, V., Munda, X., & Tiwari, V. K. (2024) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.4832564 · Cited by 3
“Furthermore, the TMT equation can be employed to comprehend a variety of dynamics, including goal setting, group dynamics, job design, and stock market behaviour, in addition to explaining academic procrastination [18].”
Method
Group cognitive behavioral therapy for reducing procrastination in college students: a randomized controlled trial
de Haas, S. M. H., Blaesing, L., Oosterhoff, R., Rozental, A., & Scheres, A. P. J. (2026) · Cognitive Behaviour Therapy · doi:10.1080/16506073.2025.2543893 · Cited by 3
“Moreover, this study is the first to examine the intervention’s impact on the factors of the “Procrastination Equation” based on Temporal Motivation Theory (Steel & König, 2006).”
Influential
Procrastination, time management and self-efficacy among university students
Alves, P. R., Soares, A. B., & Jardim, M. E. D. M. (2024) · Psico-USF · doi:10.1590/1413-8271202429e272658 · Cited by 2
“…with the goal of avoiding undesirable tasks, but such behavior, though done with the purpose of avoiding stress, ends up exacerbating it, and students who behave in this manner find themselves in a vicious cycle of low productivity and negative feelings (Steel & König, 2006; Wypych et al., 2018).”
When do we put things off? A volitional-task attractiveness framework of personality and task-related factors in predicting procrastinatory behavior
van Hooft, E. A. J. (2024) · European Journal of Personality · doi:10.1177/08902070241293615 · Cited by 4
“Also temporal motivation theory (TMT; Steel, 2007; Steel & K¨onig, 2006) explains procrastination as a consequence of the interplay between person factors related to sensitivity to delay (e.g., low self-control and impulsiveness) and task factors related to task motivation (e.g., task value and…”
To explore the effects of different ways of high intensity interval training on self-control and physical health of college students
Sun, Y., Wang, Y., Yu, H., Cheng, K., Wang, H., & Liu, J. (2025) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1550598 · Cited by 2
“Conversely, the appeal and habit-forming potential of high-intensity interval training are more pronounced than those of endurance exercise (26, 27).”
Delivering high-quality feedback is a choice: A self-regulatory framework for understanding feedback provision in organizations
Beck, J. W., & Dahling, J. J. (2025) · Human Resource Management Review · doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2025.101117 · Cited by 2
Incorporating scheduling autonomy of workers into flexible job shop scheduling: Learning and balancing decentralized task sequencing decisions with overall scheduling performance
Herrmann, J.-P., Tackenberg, S. M., Srirajan, T. P., & Nitsch, V. (2025) · Journal of Manufacturing Systems · doi:10.1016/j.jmsy.2025.12.020 · Cited by 2
Differential effects of student and parental mobile phone use on academic procrastination trajectories: Machine learning evidence
Liu, J., Liu, R., Hong, W., & Lin, J. (2025) · Computers & Education · doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2025.105551 · Cited by 2
Shifting self-belief and academic behavior during the learning transition
Andayani, E. S., Herdiani, A., & Ainurrasyidah, A. (2026) · Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education · doi:10.1108/jarhe-06-2024-0319 · Cited by 2
Publishing Registered Reports
Gerpott, F. H. (2026) · Zeitschrift für Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie A&O · doi:10.1026/0932-4089/a000464 · Cited by 2
Resilient coping, burnout, self-efficacy, and academic procrastination: an explanatory study in Peruvian and Colombian university students
Fernandez-Chero, K. Y., Daza-Albor, A. C., Valle, A. C. M.-D., Fernández-Mallma, I., & Villar-Guevara, M. (2026) · Frontiers in Education · doi:10.3389/feduc.2026.1857179 · Cited by 3
A systematic review on the association between ADHD and procrastination
Suriano, R. (2026) · Research in Developmental Disabilities · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2026.105342 · Cited by 3
Participation, Sense of Home, and End-users’ Needs in Mass Housing
Poor, S. J. A. (2015) · Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.08.177 · Cited by 2
Taxonomy of Financial Economics Decisions–A Revision Initiative
Lim, M. G. K. (2013) · International Journal of Innovation Management and Technology · doi:10.7763/ijimt.2013.v4.425 · Cited by 1
“Steel and Konig [38] were of the opinion that wholesome learning that has motivational designs is more important.”
Advancing a Behavioral Approach for Studying Public Administration
Tomo, A. (2018) · International Journal of Business and Management · doi:10.5539/ijbm.v13n6p25 · Cited by 2
Student Procrastination on an E-learning Platform: From Individual Discounting to Group Behavior
Sokolowski, M. B. C., & Tonneau, F. (2021) · Perspectives on Behavior Science · doi:10.1007/s40614-021-00321-y · Cited by 5
“…and although widely assumed to arise from delay-discounting processes (Ainslie, 1992; Ariely & Wertenbroch, 2002; Schouwenburg, 1995; Schouwenburg & Groenewoud, 2001; Steel, 2007; Steel & König, 2006), issues of procrastination have received less attention from quantitative behavior analysts.”
Background
The cognitive neural model of procrastination and related interventions
Tingyong, F. E. N. G., & Zhang, B. (2022) · Advances in Psychological Science · doi:10.3724/sp.j.1042.2023.00350 · Cited by 2
Moderation in all things, except when it comes to workplace safety: Accidents are most likely to occur under moderately hazardous work conditions
Beck, J. W., Nishioka, M., Scholer, A. A., & Beus, J. M. (2023) · Personnel Psychology · doi:10.1111/peps.12586 · Cited by 2
A Tutorial on Bayesian Modeling of Change Across Time, Individuals, and Groups
Knight, E., Neal, A., Palada, H., & Ballard, T. (2023) · Computational Brain & Behavior · doi:10.1007/s42113-023-00173-6 · Cited by 2
“…is the intertemporal choice and motivation literatures where a long history of research has demonstrated that people temporally discount future rewards or deadlines, treating them as less valuable or motivating as they would be if they were more immediate (Ainslie, 1975; Steel and König, 2006).”
Background
A Theoretical Framework of Developing Leadership Capacity for Successful Organizational Outcomes
Markova, M. O., Taysever, G. J., & Angelov, S. (2024) · Journal of Leadership in Organizations · doi:10.22146/jlo.77232 · Cited by 8
“For instance, motivation has been identified as one of the most prominent forms of intrinsic capacity that is directly related to job performance, studied in schools and the workplace (Al-Faouri et al., 2014; Steel & Koniq, 2006).”
Background
Applying Scalability to Meet Word Count Requirements in Written Assessments
Evans, C., & HARRINGTON, P. T. (2024) · College Teaching · doi:10.1080/87567555.2024.2352762 · Cited by 2
“A scalability approach differs from more standard psychological approaches, in which students use lenses such as procrastination (Steel and König 2006) and the planning fallacy (Kahneman 2011), first, to understand their time management issues, and second, to apply their understanding.”
Fear-setting: A Brief Writing Intervention Increases Motivation to Reach Personal Goals and Positive Affect
Dreisoerner, A., Heekerens, J. B., Karle, V., & Pawelkiewicz, J. M. (2024) · Journal of Happiness Studies · doi:10.1007/s10902-024-00767-2 · Cited by 2
“Self-defeating beliefs are often linked to impaired motivation (Powers et al., 2007 ; Steel & König, 2006 ), lowered self-efficacy (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), or optimism (Schwarzer & Knoll, 2003 ) to strive towards personally meaningful goals.”
Science, Stories, and Impact: A Response to Zhang and Chen
Friedman, R. (2024) · Management and Organization Review · doi:10.1017/mor.2024.27 · Cited by 2
“At the same time, it is worth reminding ourselves of the importance of many of our seemingly more mundane topics, such as motivation (Steel & König, 2006).”
Machines as an assistants for humans' creativity: A conceptual model
Osipyan, H., Vedadi, S., & Cheok, A. D. (2017) · Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IECON) · doi:10.1109/iecon.2017.8216561 · Cited by 2
“The recent work shown in [31] discusses the Temporal Motivation Theory (TMT).”
Background
Anreize und Motivation für unternehmerisches Handeln in etablierten Firmen
Schweizer, L., Monsen, E. W., & Patzelt, H. (2008) · Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1007/bf03372810 · Cited by 2
The Influence of Academic Values and Belongingness Concerns on Achievement Goals, Self-Efficacy, and Perceived Stress in First Quarter Freshmen: Relationships to Academic Performance and the Mediating Role of Procrastination
Kennedy, G. J. (2009) · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · Cited by 2
Hacia una comprensión de la mente y el comportamiento del emprendedor
Ballesteros, Á. R. B. (2013) · Panorama · doi:10.15765/pnrm.v5i9.41 · Cited by 2

Authors: Steel, P., & König, C. J.
Affiliations: University of Calgary (CA)
ORCID: Steel, Piers
König, Cornelius J.
Venue: Academy of Management Review
Publisher: Academy of Management
Published: 2006-10
Volume: 31
Issue: 4
Pages: 889-913
ISSN: 0363-7425 (ISSN-L)
1930-3807
DOI: 10.5465/amr.2006.22527462
OpenAlex: W2171935043
Cited by: 776
References: 194
Citations by year: 2026: 77 · 2025: 72 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 51 · 2022: 41 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 46 · 2019: 38 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 38 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 39
FWCI: 22.70
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: Academy of Management Review (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Human Behavior and Motivation
Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Employee Performance and Motivation
Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
Keywords: motivation theories, expectancy theory, cumulative prospect theory, needs theory, theoretical integration, human behavior, psychobiology, behaviorism, group behavior, job design, stock market behavior, goal setting

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Integrating Theories of Motivation

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