The Importance of Motivation Regulation: Achieving Success Through Academic Delay of Gratification

ABSTRACT College students juggle various responsibilities as they work toward an array of goals. Particularly in light of the many distractions college students face as they work toward their goals, it is crucial for researchers and practitioners to understand the strategies and processes that support students in reaching their goals. Researchers have argued that academic delay of gratification, which describes students’ ability to resist tempting alternatives while working on a particular academic task, is essential for goal attainment. Self‐regulated learning, more specifically motivation regulation, has great potential in facilitating students’ academic delay of gratification as it enables students to monitor and modify their motivation in the face of various motivational challenges. In this chapter, we argue that motivation regulation and academic delay of gratification can be used in conjunction to support students’ goal attainment. We highlight areas for future research and make suggestions for practice.