Fruitful plans: adding targeted mental imagery to implementation intentions increases fruit consumption

Forming implementation intentions ('If I encounter situation X, then I will perform behaviour Y!') increases the probability of carrying out goals. This study tested the hypothesis that mental imagery targeting key elements of implementation intentions further increases goal achievement. The residents of a student residence were assigned the goal of consuming extra portions of fruit every day for 7 days and randomly assigned to one of four conditions: control (active rehearsal), implementation intentions, goal intention mental imagery or mental imagery targeted to the implementation intentions. Among low fruit consumers, but not high fruit consumers, fruit consumption at follow-up was higher in the targeted mental imagery group than in the other group, with the lowest fruit consumption in the control group. The findings suggest that it may be beneficial to use targeted mental imagery when forming implementation intentions.     

How do implementation intentions promote goal attainment? A test of component processes

Implementation intentions are plans that specify the when, where, and how of goal striving in advance, and have been shown to enhance rates of goal attainment compared to merely forming respective goal intentions. The present research investigated whether the accessibility of the specified situation (cue accessibility) and the strength of the association between the specified situation and the intended response (cue-response linkage) explain the impact of implementation intentions on goal achievement. Findings indicated that participants who planned how to undertake a verbal task better attained their goal compared to participants who did not form a plan. Crucially, implementation intention effects were mediated by the accessibility of the specified cue and by the strength of cue-response links. These findings support the idea that implementation intentions benefit performance because control of behavior is delegated to specified situational cues that initiate action automatically.     

When planning is needed: Implementation intentions and attainment of approach versus avoidance health goals

OBJECTIVE: This study tested whether forming implementation intentions is an effective strategy for attaining health goals focused on trying to avoid a negative state. DESIGN: Participants chose to either eat more healthy snacks (i.e., an approach goal) or eat fewer unhealthy snacks (i.e., an avoidance goal) over two weeks and were randomly assigned to create an implementation intention to do this or not. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The authors measured fat and calorie intake after one week and after two weeks. RESULTS: After two weeks, the participants who ate most unhealthily were those who pursued an avoidance goal and did not form an implementation intention. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that forming implementation intentions for avoidance goal pursuit can help people attain important health goals.     

The effects of implementation intention strategies on prospective memory cue encoding

Implementation intentions, which include a structured verbal statement and mental imagery, improve prospective memory performance (i.e. remembering to execute delayed intentions). To investigate whether, and how, implementation intention strategies affect encoding processes we had participants complete a thought probe procedure immediately after forming the intention to remember to press Q when seeing fruit words. In Experiment 1, an implementation intention verbal statement (relative to control statement) significantly increased generation of high typicality exemplars (apple, banana, orange). In Experiment 2, an implementation intention imagery procedure (relative to control imagery) produced similar outcomes. In Experiment 3, combining the statement and imagery components of the implementation intention (relative to control statement and imagery) demonstrated even more potent effects (e.g. three-fold increase in fruit exemplars generated). In Experiment 4, we tested whether the control statement versus control imagery procedure differentially affected encoding, but these control procedures showed no significant differences. An interesting, unanticipated finding was that there was significantly less mind wandering in the implementation intention conditions relative to the control conditions. The current experiments provide novel information on the processes operating during intention encoding, and support the classic view that implementation intentions increase the encoding of specific retrieval cues.     

To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors

The present experiment investigated cognitive and behavioral effects of planning (i.e. forming implementation intentions) on goal pursuit during the performance of mundane behaviors. Participants received the goal to collect a coupon halfway the hall from the lab to the cafeteria. Later, they were also given the task to go from the lab to the cafeteria. Thus participants had to attain a new goal by interrupting a mundane behavior. Some participants enriched their goal with implementation intentions, others did not. Results showed that participants who formed implementation intentions were more effective in goal pursuit than the control group. Importantly, the data suggest that the effects of planning on goal completion are mediated by a heightened mental accessibility of environmental cues related to the goal completion task. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation Intentions Increase Parent-Teacher Communication Among Latinos

This research tested an implementation intentions intervention to increase parent-teacher communication among Latino parents of young children. Parents (n=57) were randomly assigned to form implementation intentions or simply goal intentions to communicate with their child's teacher. They completed measures of communication and goal intentions immediately prior to the manipulation, and after the manipulation for 6 consecutive weeks. Implementation intentions increased parent-teacher communication among parents with higher initial (pre-manipulation) goal intentions, but not among those with lower initial goal intentions. The findings support existing work on the conditions for implementation intentions to work, and address an important aspect of Latino children's educational success.     

Weakness of the will: Is a quick fix possible?

Weakness of the will may lead to ineffective goal striving in the sense that people lacking willpower fail to get started, to stay on track, to select instrumental means, and to act efficiently. However, using a simple self-regulation strategy (i.e., forming implementation intentions or making if–then plans) can get around this problem by drastically improving goal striving on the spot. After an overview of research investigating how implementation intentions work, I will discuss how people can use implementation intentions to overcome potential hindrances to successful goal attainment. Extensive empirical research shows that implementation intentions help people to meet their goals no matter whether these hindrances originate from within (e.g., lack of cognitive capabilities) or outside the person (i.e., difficult social situations). Moreover, I will report recent research demonstrating that implementation intentions can even be used to control impulsive cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses that interfere with one’s focal goal striving. In ending, I will present various new lines of implementation intention research, and raise a host of open questions that still deserve further empirical and theoretical analysis.     

Making plans for healthy diet: The role of motivation and action orientation

The main objective of the present study was to examine the role of motivation and action orientation in forming spontaneous (i.e., without specific instruction or manipulation) implementation intentions for a healthy diet goal. We hypothesized that (1) the adoption of a diet goal would be determined by (either intrinsic or extrinsic) motivation only whereas, (2) forming implementation intentions would be determined by intrinsic motivation and (either low or high) action orientation. These hypotheses were addressed in a sample of 142 normal weight subjects who were concerned about their dietary habits. Primary outcomes were goal intentions and implementation intentions. Our hypothesis regarding the prediction of goal intentions was confirmed whereas results relating to the prediction of implementation intentions demonstrated that intrinsic motivation and low (but not high) action orientation proved significant predictors of intentions to implement a healthy diet goal. These findings suggest that self‐regulatory skills as assessed by the concept of action orientation may relate to short‐term strategies of initiating behavior change only. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

目标性意图与执行性意图调节情绪反应的效果比较

目标性意图和执行性意图作为目标的不同形式,对情绪调节的影响有待探讨。本研究试图考察目标性意图和执行性意图与表达抑制相结合之后,在调节情绪反应方面的作用。实验采用主观报告和生物反馈的方法对58名大学生进行测试。结果发现：（1）执行性意图组被试在观看负性和中性图片时对自身情绪唤醒度的评价均显著低于目标性意图组,在观看负性图片时其情绪唤醒度也显著低于控制组。（2）执行性意图组被试在各项生理反应指标上均显著低于目标性意图组和控制组,主要表现为形成执行性意图的个体在皮肤电导增加量、皮温降低量和指脉增加量上均显著低于形成目标性意图或不形成任何意图的个体。上述结果表明,相较于仅仅给出情绪体验下调目标的目标性意图,与表达抑制结合在一起的执行性意图能有效下调个体的负性情绪反应。     

Committing to implementation intentions: Attention and memory effects for selected situational cues

Two studies tested whether forming implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, Am Psychol 54:493?C503 in 1999) results in a heightened activation of specified situational cues. Going beyond prior studies, participants of the present studies specified these opportunities on their own (i.e., the action cues were not assigned by the experimenter), and activation level was assessed by attraction of attention and recall performance rather than lexical decisions. In Study 1, situational cues associated with the where and when to act on an everyday life goal attracted more attention than non-specified cues when presented to the non-attended channel in a dichotic listening task. In Study 2, the recall of specified cues was better than that of non-specified cues both 15?min after forming implementation intentions and after a delay of 2?days. Importantly, goal commitment and implementation intention commitment moderated this effect.     

Implementation intentions as a predictor of applicant withdrawal

Despite withdrawal from the job application being a serious concern for organizations, limited research exists that examines this phenomenon. Utilizing the broad intention-behavior framework as suggested in the Theory of Planned Behavior, we examined whether the type of intentions formed when applying for a job (i.e., goal vs. implementation intentions) predicts later withdrawal from the job application. Using a field experimental strategy, half of the applicants in a large applicant pool (N = 5,346) were randomly made to form implementation intentions. It was found that forming implementation intentions was indeed effective in reducing applicant withdrawal, albeit with a small effect size. Theoretical and practical implications of this finding are discussed.     

Aging and medical adherence: the use of automatic processes to achieve effortful things

This research examined whether forming detailed implementation plans for achieving a goal improved older adults' adherence to a health behavior. Nondiabetic participants (N = 31) rehearsed, deliberated, or formed implementation intentions to perform home blood glucose monitoring, 4 times daily for 3 weeks. The implementation group performed tests nearly 50% more often than the 2 comparison groups. Results were not attributable to a priori differences in intentions to perform testing. Findings indicate that implementation intentions can facilitate older adults' performance of important medical self-care tasks in naturalistic settings over sustained periods of time and concur with previous research that implicates automatic cognitive processes that do not show age-related decline. These results support the utility of this technique for improving adherence to health behaviors in clinical populations.     

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

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.     

行为执行意向的理论观点及其相关研究

执行意向是指个体以行动目标为导向,通过连接情景线索和目标导向反应,建立行为意向和实际行为之间联系的中介变量。通过梳理执行意向的概念、心理联系及应用研究,发现执行意向主要与行为意向、自我协调、合作性、计划提醒、自觉性、人格等变量产生心理联系;形成执行意向的人具有克服困难,达到既定目标的积极心理状态。然而,执行意向并不总是发挥其积极效应,其与具体情景、个体差异性等有关。最后,文章从四个方面对今后研究的热点与方向进行了展望。     

How formulating implementation plans and remembering past actions facilitate the enactment of effortful decisions

Building on prior research studying effortful decision making and enactment processes (Bagozzi, Dholakia, & Basuroy, 2003; BDB), we identify and provide an in‐depth understanding of two specific self‐regulatory strategies: (1) formulating an implementation plan, and (2) remembering past actions, that decision makers can use in facilitating enactment of effortful decisions. The results of three experiments, in which the decision maker's goal and self‐regulatory strategy were manipulated, showed that for goals that decision makers chose volitionally, the motivational effects of both these strategies lay in increasing levels of proximal implementation‐related variables (implementation intentions, plan completeness, plan enactment, and goal realization) significantly. In contrast, for goals that were assigned to participants, these strategies' motivational effects additionally extended to significantly increasing distal goal‐related variables (goal desire, goal intentions, perceived self‐efficacy, and implementation desires). The theoretical implications of our findings are discussed, and future research opportunities are explored. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation intentions and imagery: individual and combined effects on prospective memory among young adults

Prospective memory (PM) has been found to benefit from implementation intentions (i.e., “when I see X, I will do Y”). However, to date, it is unclear whether implementation intentions must incorporate imagery in order to produce a positive effect on PM, or whether the verbal statement alone is sufficient. It is also equivocal whether the use of visual imagery alone improves PM, absent an intentional statement. The present study investigated the individual influences of implementation intentions and imagery, as well as their combined effect, on PM. A total of 64 undergraduates were placed into one of four instructional conditions—read-only, implementation intention, imagery, or combined—and were then tested on a laboratory PM task. The results revealed that participants in the implementation intention, imagery, and combined groups completed significantly more PM tasks than did participants in the read-only group, but they did not differ from one another. Combining implementation intentions and imagery, however, did not improve PM performance over either strategy alone. Additionally, the implementation intention and imagery groups outperformed the read-only group on a secondary ongoing digit detection task. The results of this study suggest that implementation intentions do not require imagery to be effective in improving PM, and that imagery alone has positive effects on PM. Finally, the results of the ongoing digit detection task suggest that the use of implementation intentions and imagery might provide for automatic identification and processing of environmental cues.     

Implementation intentions and the willful pursuit of prosocial goals in negotiations

Three studies examined whether the self-regulation strategy of forming implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) facilitates the attainment of prosocial goals when a limited resource is to be distributed between two parties who hold adverse cognitive orientations. In three experiments, pairs of negotiators were assigned prosocial goals that either had to be supplemented with plans (if-then plans, Gollwitzer, 1999) on how to act on these goals or not. Experiment 1 used a mixed-frames negotiation paradigm in which one negotiation partner operated on a gain-frame, the other on a loss-frame. When participants had the prosocial goal to find fair agreements and furnished it with a respective if-then plan, unfair agreements in favor of the loss-frame negotiator no longer occurred. Experiment 2 used a same-frame negotiation paradigm, where both negotiation partners had either a loss or a gain-frame. When loss-frame pairs had furnished their prosocial goals to cooperate with the negotiation partner with a respective if-then plan, reduced profits as compared to gain-frame pairs of negotiators were no longer observed. In addition, negotiators who had formed implementation intentions were more likely to use the integrative negotiation strategy of logrolling (i.e., making greater concessions on low rather than high priority issues). Experiment 3 used a computer-mediated negotiation task in order to analyze the effects of prosocial goals and respective implementation intentions on the course of the negotiation. Again, implementation intentions facilitated the pursuit of prosocial goals in the face of adversity (i.e., loss frames) by use of the integrative negotiation strategy of logrolling. The present research adds a self-regulation perspective to the research on negotiation by pointing out that the effects of negotiation goals can be enhanced by furnishing them with respective plans (i.e., implementation intentions).     

Implementation intentions do not enhance all types of goals: The moderating role of goal difficulty

Three studies tested whether Gollwitzer and Brandst?tter’s (1997) failure to find an implementation effect for easy goals was due to a ceiling effect, to the moderating effect of previously formed habits, or to a moderating effect of earlier implementation intentions. The studies strongly indicated that easy goals did benefit from forming implementation intentions (i.e., specifying where or when one would perform the action). This suggests that Gollwitzer and Brandst?tter’s failure to find significant implementation effects for easy goals was due to a ceiling effect and not to other moderating effects. However, in the three experiments, we found no positive effect of implementation intentions for the enactment of goal-related behavior corresponding to a certain type of difficult goal. More specifically, when the focus was on the outcome of goal-directed action rather than on the goal-directed actions themselves, implementation intentions specifying when or in what conditions the relevant actions were to be performed did not enhance enactment. When the focus was on the goal-directed actions, we replicated the positive effect of forming implementation intentions. We argue that specifying when or where a goal-directed action should be enacted does not enhance enactment when the actor is not aware of the actions that are required to reach the goal. Possibly, implementation intentions specifying what one should do (rather than where or when) might be more helpful to enhance enactment rates of this type of goal.     

Implementation intentions do not enhance all types of goals: The moderating role of goal difficulty

Three studies tested whether Gollwitzer and Brandstätter’s (1997) failure to find an implementation effect for easy goals was due to a ceiling effect, to the moderating effect of previously formed habits, or to a moderating effect of earlier implementation intentions. The studies strongly indicated that easy goals did benefit from forming implementation intentions (i.e., specifying where or when one would perform the action). This suggests that Gollwitzer and Brandstätter’s failure to find significant implementation effects for easy goals was due to a ceiling effect and not to other moderating effects. However, in the three experiments, we found no positive effect of implementation intentions for the enactment of goal-related behavior corresponding to a certain type of difficult goal. More specifically, when the focus was on the outcome of goal-directed action rather than on the goal-directed actions themselves, implementation intentions specifying when or in what conditions the relevant actions were to be performed did not enhance enactment. When the focus was on the goal-directed actions, we replicated the positive effect of forming implementation intentions. We argue that specifying when or where a goal-directed action should be enacted does not enhance enactment when the actor is not aware of the actions that are required to reach the goal. Possibly, implementation intentions specifying what one should do (rather than where or when) might be more helpful to enhance enactment rates of this type of goal.     

Implementation intentions and shielding goal striving from unwanted thoughts and feelings

Forming an implementation intention or "if-then plan" promotes the attainment of different types of goals (Gollwitzer, 1999; Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). So far, research on implementation intentions has focused on the initiation of goal striving, whereas the issue of shielding of ongoing goal striving has been largely neglected. In two field experiments concerned with dieting (Study 1) and athletic goals (Study 2), goal shielding was supported by implementation intentions geared at controlling potentially interfering inner states (i.e., cravings for junk food in Study 1, and disruptive thoughts, feelings, and physiological states in Study 2). In both experiments, forming if-then plans enhanced the rate of goal attainment. Thus, implementation intention formation can be used to promote the realization of desired outcomes not only by facilitating getting started with goal striving but also by preventing goal striving from straying off course.