If-Then Plans Benefit Delay of Gratification Performance in Children With and Without ADHD

Improving compliance to meal-replacement food regimens. Forming implementation intentions (conscious IF-THEN plans) increases compliance

Implementation intentions ("If I encounter Situation X, then I'll perform Behavior Y!") are postulated to instigate automatic action initiation. In 4 studies, the hypothesis was tested that implementation intentions lead to immediate action initiation once the specified situation is encountered, even under conditions of high cognitive load. First, individuals whose action control is known to be hampered by disruptive cognitive business, such as opiate addicts under withdrawal (Study 1) and schizophrenic patients (Study 2), benefited from forming implementation intentions. Second, the beneficial effect of implementation intentions was also found in 2 experiments with university students (Studies 3 and 4) in which cognitive load was experimentally induced by using dual task paradigms. Results of the 4 studies suggest that forming implementation intentions instigates immediate action initiation that is also efficient.

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

Objective: Reducing face touching could help slow COVID-19’s spread. We tested whether implementation intentions, a simple-to-use behaviour change intervention, reduce face-touching behaviour effectively. Design: In this pre-registered online study, we utilised a novel way to collect behavioural data during a pandemic. We obtained video recordings of 156 adults while performing three engaging tasks for four minutes each. After the baseline task, participants formed the goal to avoid touching their faces; some participants also formed implementation intentions, targeting either the frequency or duration of face touching. Main Outcome Measures: The 468 videos were rated by two independent raters for face touching frequency and duration. Results: Face touching was widespread. Compared to the baseline, there was a slight reduction in the frequency of face touching after the experimental manipulations. We observed a significant decrease in the length of face touching only for participants with duration-focused implementation intentions. Conclusion: While implementation intentions have effectively downregulated other unwanted behaviours, they did not reduce the frequency of face-touching behaviour. Still, duration-focused implementation intentions appear to be a promising strategy for face-touching behaviour change. This highlights the need for further optimisation and field research to test the effectiveness of implementation intentions in everyday life contexts.

Although the adverse effects of receiving abusive comments about appearance are well documented, there is a dearth of research about how such comments can be managed effectively. The present research examined whether forming if-then plans (i.e., implementation intentions; Gollwitzer, 1999) enables women to ignore stigmatizing appearance-related comments. Female staff and students at a UK university (N = 145) completed a test of attention with either no audio input (control condition), having formed a goal intention to ignore stigmatizing comments (goal intention condition), or having formed an if-then plan to ignore such comments (implementation intention condition). Findings indicated that forming an if-then plan led to (a) improved test performance compared to forming a mere goal intention, and (b) equivalent performance as compared to control participants. Moreover, participants who formed implementation intentions were less distressed by the comments, and this effect was especially pronounced among participants with low body satisfaction. Implications of the findings for research on both stigmatization and implementation intentions are discussed.

This study addressed the effects of two specific types of planning (i.e., goal intention and implementation intention formation) on interpersonal discussions of difficult topics (e.g., discussing the future of a relationship, discussing past romantic partners, discussing the current status of a relationship). Goal intentions specify a certain end point (e.g., "I intend to reach x"), and implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1999) specify when, where, and how a goal will be achieved (e.g., "If x, then y"). In addition, four personality traits (i.e., need for cognition, cognitive flexibility, self-efficacy, and trait dyadic communication apprehension) were examined in order to further understand the role of these traits in impacting planning and state anxiety, self-perceived communication effectiveness, message length, and motivation. Using Berger's (1995a, 1997) Planning Theory as a guiding framework, this post-test only equivalent groups experimental design evaluated differences in state anxiety, self-perceived communication effectiveness, message length, and motivation among three conditions: implementation intention formation (n = 60), goal intention formation (n = 64), and a control group (n = 58). In Time 1, participants reported on a range of difficult topics that they perceived to be both anxiety-provoking and important. After this, each group was given an experimental manipulation, in which participants were guided through the formation of an implementation intention or a goal. The control group was a no message control group. In Time 2, which took place two weeks later, participants were asked to audio-record a message in which they talked about the difficult topic they reported on in Time 1. Results revealed that planning did not impact state anxiety, self-perceived communication effectiveness, or motivation. Individuals in the goal formation group formed messages with fewer words than did individuals in the control group. Self-efficacy interacted with the goal formation condition to impact message length, such that individuals with high self-efficacy recorded shorter messages than those in the control group. Taken together, it appears that planning had minimal impact on state anxiety associated with the discussion of difficult topics in interpersonal relationships.

This study examined the impact of implementation intention formation in reducing consultations for emergency contraception and pregnancy testing in young women. Teenage girls (N = 261) visiting a family planning clinic were randomly assigned to implementation intention versus control conditions and completed questionnaires at recruitment. Objective measures of consultation outcomes were obtained from clinic records at baseline and 9-month follow-up (n = 200). Forming implementation intentions significantly reduced consultations for emergency contraception and pregnancy testing at follow-up compared with the control group (38% vs. 55%). There were also differences between the groups in consultation outcomes over time. For instance, whereas 31% of implementation intention participants changed from consulting for emergency contraception and pregnancy testing at baseline to consulting for contraceptive supplies only at follow-up, only 16% of control participants did so. These results suggest that implementation intention formation is a simple yet effective means of promoting pregnancy prevention among teenagers.

PurposeThe present experiment aimed to test the impact of a self‐regulatory strategy of goal pursuit – called mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) – on an integrative bargaining task.Design/methodology/approachParticipants were randomly assigned to dyads and negotiated over the sale of a car. Before negotiating, participants were prompted to engage in MCII, or one or the other of its two component strategies: to contrast mentally achieving success in the integrative bargaining task with the reality standing in the way of this success (MC), to form implementation intentions on how to bargain (i.e. if‐then plans) (II), or both to contrast mentally and form implementation intentions (MCII).FindingsThe strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions led dyads to reach the largest joint agreements, compared to dyads that only used mental contrasting or if‐then plans. Moreover, participants who mentally contrasted formed more cooperative implementation intentions than participants who did not mentally contrast, mediating the effect of condition on joint gain.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings suggest that the self‐regulatory strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) leads to higher joint gain, and that this effect is mediated by mental contrasting's promotion of cooperative planning. More research should be done to understand the specific negotiation behaviors engendered by MCII, as well as its applicability to other negotiation scenarios.Originality/valueThese findings have implications for both self‐regulation and negotiation research. The result that MCII fosters integrative solutions reflects its potential to help people form cooperative plans and reach high joint‐value agreements in integrative scenarios. For negotiation research, the paper identifies an effective self‐regulatory strategy for producing high‐quality agreements.

The current study aimed to test the effectiveness of a testicular self-examination (TSE) demonstration video intervention, with and without implementation intentions, in improving TSE rates. It also tested the utility of a ‘boosting exercise’ where participants were asked to renew their implementation intentions at first follow-up. A three-group randomised controlled trial was carried out with three data collection time-points. Ninety-three male students watched a TSE demonstration video at baseline; Group 1 (n=32) only watched the video. Groups 2 (n=31) and 3 (n=30) also formed implementation intentions. Group 3 carried out the ‘boosting exercise’ by renewing implementation intentions four weeks later. Performance of TSE was measured at the three time-points. The results showed that TSE performance increased from baseline (20.4%) to first follow up (81.8%) and remained high at second follow up. It was concluded that implementation intentions added no benefit over watching a demonstration video alone, sug...

This study assessed the separate and joint effects of having a goal intention and the completeness of implementation intention formation on the likelihood of attending an appointment to obtain vaccination against the hepatitis B virus among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Netherlands. Extending previous research, it was hypothesized that to be effective in promoting vaccination, implementation intention formation not only requires a strong goal intention, but also complete details specifying when, where and how to make an appointment to obtain hepatitis B virus vaccination among MSM. MSM at risk for hepatitis B virus (N = 616), with strong or weak intentions to obtain hepatitis B virus vaccination, were randomly assigned to form an implementation intention or not. Completeness of implementation intentions was rated and hepatitis B virus uptake was assessed through data linkage with the joint vaccination registry of the collaborating Public Health Services. Having a strong goal intention to obtain hepatitis B virus vaccination and forming an implementation intention, each significantly and independently increased the likelihood of MSM obtaining hepatitis B virus vaccination. In addition, MSM who formed complete implementation intentions were more successful in obtaining vaccination (p < 0.01). The formation of complete implementation intentions was promoted by strong goal intentions (p < 0.01).

Planning has been studied in different fields of psychology, including cognitive, developmental, personality, social, and work and organizational research. This article looks at the planning process through the lens of motivation science, and asks the question, What kind of planning can help people reach their goals? We focus on the strategy of making if-then plans (also known as forming implementation intentions). We discuss what kinds of cognitive performance can be enhanced by if-then planning (e.g., attention control, prospective memory, executive functions, and decision making), and whether if-then planning may also benefit people's emotion control, their desired behavior change, and their pending social interactions. We point to the positive impacts of making if-then plans on thinking, feeling, and acting, and we list moderators pertaining to sample characteristics and features of the underlying goals and of the if-then plans themselves. Finally, the underlying processes of if-then planning effects are delineated in the hope of better understanding what kind of if-then planning might work best in promoting flexible but tenacious goal pursuit.

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with action control problems such as failure to inhibit inappropriate responses. Two studies investigated whether self-regulation by implementation intentions (if-then plans; Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans. American Psychologist, 54, 493–503) facilitates response inhibition in children with ADHD. In Study 1, children with ADHD who furnished a suppression goal with implementation intentions improved inhibition of an unwanted response on a Go/No-Go task to the same level observed in children without ADHD. Study 2 showed that a combination of implementation intentions and psychostimulant medication resulted in the highest level of suppression performance in children with ADHD. Theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.

Implementation intention formation, which involves identifying triggers and linking them with coping strategies, has proven effective at reducing alcohol consumption in general populations. For the first time, the present study tested the ability of implementation intentions to reduce alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers and to explore potential neuropsychological mechanisms. At baseline, participants were randomized to form implementation intentions or to an active control group. There was a 5.7 unit (1 unit = 10 ml or 8 g ethanol) per week reduction ([95%CI 0.15, 11.19], p = 0.048) in alcohol consumption at 1 month follow-up among participants who formed implementation intentions, which was significantly more than controls F(1, 91) = 3.95, p = 0.048, a medium effect size (d = 0.47, Cohen, 1992). No significant differences in performance on the neuropsychological tasks were found between groups. The present study demonstrates for the first time that implementation intentions reduce alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers.

Forming implementation intentions (i.e. action plans that specify when, where and how a person will act) could be effective in promoting condom use on a large scale. However, the technique implies that people are able to form high quality implementation plans that are likely to induce behaviour change. Young single females, aged 16-30 years old, were asked to form either an implementation intention for the target behaviour using condoms (n = 159) or preparatory implementation intentions for buying, carrying, discussing and using condoms (n = 146). Condom preparations were assessed at follow-up 2 months later. The implementation intentions that participants formed were rated on quality. In general, it appeared hard for young women to form high quality general implementation intentions for the target behaviour condom use. Implementation intentions for the preparatory behaviours were of better quality than general implementation intentions. Females who formed strong implementation intentions in the preparatory behaviours condition were more committed to these plans and perceived them as more useful. Plan commitment and perceived usefulness predicted condom preparations at follow-up. We conclude that it is important to ask individuals to form implementation intentions for the preparatory behaviours rather than for the target behaviour alone.

Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta‐analysis of Effects and Processes