If-Then Plans Prove Effective for Self Control
Many things can keep us from reaching our goals including ourselves. Indeed, our ability to regulate our thoughts, feelings and reactions to the challenges we encounter when working towards goals strongly determines success. My ability to self regulate shapes for example, how I deal with frustration or the impulse to do something more enjoyable; if I take risks to learn new things; and ultimately whether I give up or keep going.
Cognitive designers focused on creating programs to help people achieve lasting behavior change or reach other goals must pay special attention to the psychology of self regulation.
That is why I am always on the lookout for studies that take a scientific look at how well the various tactics for self regulation work. For example, consider the study just published on the Self-Regulation of Priming Effects on Behavior. In this study researchers completed three experiments to see if implementation intentions or the formulation of if-then plans improved self regulation. They found that they worked!
An if-then plan involves imagining potential defeaters to your intent on reaching a goal and then making a plan to avoid or counteract its effects, if the defeater happens to surface. For instances, if my goal is to lose weight and I know I have trouble resisting cookies, I might make a plan that says “if I encounter a cookie then I will chew a piece of gum”. Although simplistic, it is our ability to learn which types of if-then plans work that determines how well we learn new behaviors from experience.
