CR: "Implementation Intentions"
For this concept review (CR) I recently came across Duckworth & colleagues' "Self-regulation strategies improve self-discipline in adolescents: benefits fo mental contrasting and implementation intentions." This was published in the peer-reviewed journal Eduational Psychology in 2011 (full citation below).
My context for reviewing this article was to think differently about Snyder's Elaborated Hope Theory, at least as a few colleagues and I have recently be studying it. For the sake of making this post manageable, Hope theory suggests that those with clear goals, distinct and multiple ways to reach the goals, and sufficient levels of motiavtion are able achieve higher levels of outcomes in life (e.g., stress management, academic performance, conflict management in relationships). In this way, we can think about how levels of hope (if we were to measure it by survey) is distributed across people in low to high amounts. In any given body of people, some are just more mindful of their goals, what ways they have to reach them, and how to summon motivation. Some are more purposeful, while others are on auto-pilot or figuring it out as they go.
This isn't to say that those that are measurably lower in hope (as Snyder see it) are doomed, or lower humans. Work like this is tracking trends with a eye toward what tends to happen; I see this as instructional: Hope isn't all trait like height or eye-color. It isn't "stable" like that, but rather dispositional or subject to the attitudes, habits, and social circumstances we construct around us. That's cool, because that says "options" and "potential" for our lives.
Back to the article: So Angela Duckworth is relatively "academic-famous" for her work on Grit, which she's done a TED talk about and worked with West Point and I'm sure numerous other places. This article is work done by herself as first author and a few Psychology colleagues as a variety of places. For the sake of this post Duckworth is the expert I'll report on sharing this info with us through the article.
She talks about a variety of goal related terms like goal setting, goal striving, goal shielding, and something called mental contrasting (i.e., the process of thinking about what you want, and then what obstacles stand in your way). These terms are important, and perhaps should be explored in length at some other time for this blog. For today, I wanted to focus on Implementation Intentions.
Supplementing a goal to which an individual feels committed with an implemen- tation intention, a plan that details when, where and how the individual will take action, makes goal realisation more probable (Gollwitzer, 1999; Sheeran, Webb, & Gollwitzer, 2005). (18)
In this way implementation intentions become the plans which facilitate goal striving by planning effectively. Essentially charting a course. In the article's lit. review, she mentions that implementation intentions are meant to address two challenges in the "goal striving" stage:
Getting Started: seizing opportunities to act & overcoming reluctance to act
Staying on Track: protecting on-going goal oriented activity from being derailed.
So what is an implementation intention? Implentation intentions are specific phrases that are constructed in a way that link a course of action to situation cues. This forethought allows for a more automatic "plan of action" ahead of time. In this way when challenges to getting started or staying on track arise, there is preset sequence of events that should happen (thus reducing the need for a decision in a critical moment). Thus here is the format:
If x happens then I will do y. OR
If x happens then I will not do y.
For example:
Upon getting out of bed in the morning, I will immeditely starting my morning writing process.
If offered cocaine, I will say "No thanks, I've quit."
When I finish my workout, I'll drink my protein shake.
Thefore, the idea is that when you get a goal in mind, write down 2-3 implementation intentions that address situations or obstacles you'll encounter and a specific solution to them. It doesn't need to be a very inventive solution, or something complex; It would almost be true in most cases that a clear cut solution would be better (easier to implement, etc.). Rather than linger about in the morning and waste hours of potential write time, go right to writing. Rather than accept an offer for coke, have a preplanned statement ready. Rather than take on random life situations upon leaving the gym or finishing a run, there is something that will happen to maximize results already set up to go.
Part of this is anticpating what the obstacles are ahead of time, or drawing upon your personal or social experience bank. Sometimes you can't anticpate obstacles (e.g., computer troubles, sick child) and need to find work-arounds or revise your process to make your goal-setting and goal-striving a bit more robust.
As for Duckworth & colleagues findings from their study about PSAT studying:
Students given the opportunity to use mental contrasting (to ensure goal commitment) with implementation intentions (to facilitate goal implementation) completed more than 60% more practice questions in preparation for an upcoming high-stakes standar- dised test than did students in a placebo control condition. These results suggest that mental contrasting with the subsequent formation of implementation intentions can be an effective self-regulation strategy for adolescents to master developmental tasks. (23)
So the combo of mental contrasting (i.e., deliberately imagining goal attaintment AND obstacles) and implementation intentions helped those students complete more of the PSAT prep questions on average (which in theory helps prepare them better for the test). While this example feels specific, instead of PSAT sub in working out, some performance evaluation at work, dieting, or any other "test" or "goal" you have. When we're looking for what might contribute to our "willpower boosters."
Citations:
Duckworth, Angela Lee , Grant, Heidi , Loew, Benjamin , Oettingen, Gabriele and Gollwitzer, Peter M. (2011). Self-regulation strategies improve self-discipline in adolescents: benefits of mental contrasting and implementation intentions. Educational Psychology, 31, 1, 17 — 26, First published on: 14 September 2010 (iFirst).
Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implentation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493-503.
Gollwitzer, P. M. & Sheeran (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69-119.
