There are two kinds of dieters in this world. Those who see a piece of chocolate cake and
see it as a monumental hurdle to be overcome, and those who see that same piece
of chocolate cake and see it as a reminder that they are on a diet. Perhaps not surprisingly, the ones who see
the cake as a reminder of their diet are more successful at keeping to their
diet than those who see it as a hurdle.
Research by Ayelet Fishbach, Ron Friedman, and Arie
Kruglanski in a 2003 paper in the Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology first reported this difference between
people who were successful and unsuccessful at satisfying their long-term
goals. And it isn’t just dieting. Students who are successful at getting their
work done are reminded to study by temptations like parties and games, while
those who are not successful at getting their work done are derailed by these
temptations.
Unfortunately, that study alone doesn’t help us much. It does tell us that people who are successful
have this connection between the temptation and the goal that is important to
them. It doesn’t tell us how to learn
that connection.
A paper in the October, 2011 issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin by Floor Kroese, Marieke
Adriaanse, Catharine Evers, and Denise DeRidder fills this gap.
These researchers drew on Peter Gollwitzer’s idea of an implementation intention. Gollwitzer’s work suggests that if people
make specific plans to help them satisfy a goal, then those intentions increase
their success at satisfying the goal. A
key part of an implementation intention is to foresee obstacles to the goal
(like temptations). So, perhaps an
implementation intention increases the strength of the relationship between the
temptation and the goal.
To test this possibility, women were recruited to
participate in a study of healthy eating habits. At the start of the study, the women were
asked to name an unhealthy snack food that is tempting for them. The researchers measured whether the women
were interested in dieting, and also whether they were successful at
dieting. Half of the women were also
asked to form a specific implementation intention in which they resolved that
if they encountered their tempting food that they would stick to their
diet. This group repeated the
implementation intention a few times.
The other half did not form a specific implementation intention.
A week later, all of the women were asked to report how well
they did in resisting their tempting food in the previous week.
The group that did not form an implementation intention
generally acted as you would expect.
Those people who reported being unsuccessful dieters generally gave in
to their tempting food more often than those who reported being successful
dieters.
The group that did form an implementation intention formed a
more solid connection between the temptation and their goal. For this group, those people who are
generally unsuccessful dieters actually gave in to their temptation somewhat
less often than those who are generally successful dieters. That is, the specific implementation
intention improved people’s ability to resist their temptation by strengthening
the connection between the temptation and the goal.
This study gives hope to us all. If there is some temptation you are trying to
resist, forming an implementation intention can help. The idea is to think specifically about your
temptation and about the situation that you are most likely to see it. Then, there are two things you can do. First, resolve to stick with your goal, even
when you encounter the temptation.
Second, make a specific plan to help you stick with your goal. In the case of a tempting piece of chocolate
cake, for example, consider walking away from it. If you are at a restaurant, and someone else
is eating the cake, think about getting a cup of coffee or a glass of water
instead.
