Implementation intentions as goal primes: Boosting self‐control in tempting environments

European Journal of Social Psychology - Tập 41 Số 5 - Trang 551-557 - 2011
Guido M. van Koningsbruggen1, Wolfgang Stroebe1, Esther K. Papies1, Henk Aarts1
1Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Tóm tắt

AbstractPeople often forget their long‐term strivings because their environment confronts them with attractive temptations. Previous research suggests that self‐control failures can be prevented by reminding people of their higher‐order goal. Therefore, we hypothesized that using implementation intentions as a tool to directly re‐activate people's higher‐order goal in tempting situations would effectively enhance self‐control. We tested this in the domain of dieting behavior. Results demonstrated that this specific planning strategy activated the dieting goal for unsuccessful dieters when exposed to tempting food cues (Study 1) and reduced their consumption of calorically dense food across 2 weeks (Study 2) compared to those in control conditions. This suggests that preparing people to think of their higher‐order goal when tempted can be used to protect ongoing goal striving. Appealing to higher‐order goals potentially makes implementation intentions flexible instruments of self‐regulation as this should trigger motivated behavior to reach goals and initiate various goal‐instrumental actions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Từ khóa


Tài liệu tham khảo

10.1080/17437190701485852

10.1002/(SICI)1099‐0992(199912)29:8<971::AID‐EJSP963>3.0.CO;2.‐A

10.1177/0146167207311201

10.1177/0146167208325612

Aiken L. S., 1991, Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions

10.1037/0278‐6133.27.4.401

10.1016/j.jesp.2010.01.002

10.1037//0022‐3514.81.5.946

10.1006/appe.1996.0057

10.1037/0022‐3514.84.2.296

10.1080/14792779343000059

10.1037//0003‐066X.54.7.493

10.1037/0022‐3514.73.1.186

Gollwitzer P. M., 2006, Advances in experimental social psychology, 69

10.1037/a0014399

Herman C. P., 1980, Obesity, 208

10.1126/science.280.5368.1371

10.1177/0956797610389186

10.1037/0033‐295X.112.2.446

10.1016/j.amepre.2004.02.001

10.1037/0003‐066X.62.3.220

10.1037/a0019877

10.1016/j.jesp.2006.08.001

10.1016/j.jesp.2008.04.008

10.1177/0146167208320063

10.1177/0146167209360665

10.1037/0022‐3514.83.6.1261

10.1037/0022‐3514.84.6.1109

10.1016/j.jesp.2007.01.005

10.1016/j.jesp.2010.10.012

10.1016/j.jesp.2006.02.001

Thông tin
Thông tin xuất bản

European Journal of Social Psychology

Tập 41 Số 5

551-557

Thông tin tác giả