Blocked goals, persistent action: Implementation intentions engender tenacious goal striving

Martijn, Carolien; Alberts, Hugo J. E. M.; Sheeran, Paschal; Peters, Gjalt - Jorn Ygram; Mikolajczak, Jochen; Vries, Nanne K. de

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2008.01.005

Cited by 23 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…The present findings are, however, the first to manipulate the use of justifications and examine the effects on counter‐intentional indulgence. Whereas existing studies that examine the processes that occur between forming an intention and subsequent goal striving have focused on external threats to intention realization such as unexpected situations (DiBonaventura & Chapman, ; Martijn et al ., ) or social recognition (Gollwitzer, Sheeran, Michalski, & Seifert, ), the present studies indicate that threats to intention realization can originate within the person, in the form of justifications for indulgence. Our findings provide insight into a particular type of self‐talk (i.e., giving oneself reasons to indulge) that can jeopardize the effective translation of intentions into action.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

‘I deserve a treat!’: Justifications for indulgence undermine the translation of intentions into action

Taylor

Webb

Sheeran

2013

Br. J. Soc. Psychol.

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The present research explores how justifications for indulgence influence the translation of 'good' intentions into action. Three studies investigated the nature of such justifications and their relation to indulgence. Study 1 identified six ways that people justify indulgence to themselves - that they are deserving or curious, that the indulgence is an exception to the norm or can be compensated for later, or that the tempting food is available or irresistible. Study 2 showed that the use of justifications undermined participants' strong (but not weak) intentions to halve their consumption of a nominated high-fat food. Study 3 found that priming the use of justifications increased the amount of chocolate that participants consumed in a subsequent, ostensibly unrelated, taste test. Again, justification use had a greater effect on participants with strong intentions to limit indulgence. Taken together, the studies suggest a new approach to understanding intention-behaviour discrepancies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

‘I deserve a treat!’: Justifications for indulgence undermine the translation of intentions into action

Taylor

Webb

Sheeran

2013

Br. J. Soc. Psychol.

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“…This is in line with the initial proposition of Gollwitzer (1999) that the effect of IIs is expected to be sustained over time given the persistence of mental procedures underlying IIs. In this regard, it has been observed that forming IIs not only promotes action initiation, but also engenders greater tenacity of goal pursuit when unexpected barriers are encountered (Martijn et al, 2008). These authors attributed this effect to a decrease in demand on the limited self-regulatory resources needed to overcome difficulties associated with goal striving (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000), essentially due to the shift of the control of an action from a deliberate conscious and effortful control to a more automatic regulation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of implementation intentions on physical activity among obese older adults: A randomised control study

Bélanger-Gravel

Godin

Bilodeau

et al. 2013

Psychology & Health

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“…The self‐regulatory problem of overcoming self‐defensiveness when having to call a halt to a futile goal striving (e.g., disengaging from a means that turns out to be faulty, even though the means was chosen mindfully; Bobocel & Meyer, 1994) has also been found to benefit from forming implementation intentions (Henderson, Gollwitzer, & Oettingen, 2007). And finally, self‐regulatory resources (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000) are found to stay preserved when goal striving is regulated by implementation intentions, and thus for individuals using implementation intentions, not overextending oneself becomes easier (Webb & Sheeran, 2003; Martijn, Alberts, Sheeran, Peters, Mikolajczak, & de Vries, 2008).…”

Section: What Are Implementation Intentions and How Do They Work?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

Gollwitzer

Sheeran

2009

J Consum Psychol

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People may use the self-regulatory strategy of forming implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) to make better consumer decisions and facilitate the translation of those decisions into action. First, research on the mechanisms and effects of implementation intentions is reviewed. Second, we discuss how implementation intentions can be used to improve consumer decision making by promoting attention control and information elaboration, and overcoming disruptive influences. Third, we consider the various problems that militate against the enactment of one's decisions, and evidence is presented to show that implementation intentions are still effective even when goal attainment does not seem to be amenable to self-regulation. Finally, potential moderators of implementation intention effects are discussed.Research on consumer decision making and behavior focuses on what determines a person's decisions and whether such decisions are translated into action. Accumulated evidence suggests that consumers' decisions are strongly affected by the information presented and how willing and able perceivers are to process that information. For instance, it matters whether information about a given product uses images or words, general versus detailed statements, or emotional versus factual content (e.g., Kramer & Yoon, 2007;Wyer, Hung, Jiang, 2008;Yoon, Cole, & Lee, 2007). Whether one or the other type of information has greater impact on people's decisions is influenced by features of the recipients such as their cognitive capacity, motivation, mood, age, inter alia. The enactment of consumer decisions, on the other hand, has been found to depend on features of the situational context in which action is initiated (e.g., the presence of barriers, distractions, bad habits, and social support), the strength of the person's commitment to purchasing the item (e.g., persistence in obtaining the product), and available resources (e.g., credit rating or negotiation skills). This paper proposes that people can control the influence of such determinants on consumer decision making and decision realization by adopting a self-regulatory strategy called implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans). Using this strategy, people plan out in advance exactly how they will respond in situ. In the case of decision making, such plans may pertain to how deeply presented information is processed (e.g., in a systematic rather than a heuristic fashion) or how much weight should be attached to different types of information (e.g., affective versus cognitive). In the case of decision realization, such plans may specify how to get started with enacting the consumer decision (e.g., planning the time and place of purchase) or how to shield decision enactment from disruptive influences (e.g., dealing with a domineering salesperson). In other words, we will suggest that if-then plans that specify do's and don'ts of effective decision making and decision implementation can facilitate good consumer decisions and behavioral enactment. By using if-then p...

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Blocked goals, persistent action: Implementation intentions engender tenacious goal striving

Cited by 23 publications

References 23 publications

‘I deserve a treat!’: Justifications for indulgence undermine the translation of intentions into action

‘I deserve a treat!’: Justifications for indulgence undermine the translation of intentions into action

The effect of implementation intentions on physical activity among obese older adults: A randomised control study

Self‐regulation of consumer decision making and behavior: The role of implementation intentions

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