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

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Holding a strong goal intention (“I intend to reach Z!”) does not guarantee goal achievement, because people may fail to deal effectively with self‐regulatory problems during goal striving. This review analyzes whether realization of goal intentions is facilitated by forming an implementation intention that spells out the when, where, and how of goal striving in advance (“If situation Y is encountered, then I will initiate goal‐directed behavior X!”). Findings from 94 independent tests showed that implementation intentions had a positive effect of medium‐to‐large magnitude (d = .65) on goal attainment. Implementation intentions were effective in promoting the initiation of goal striving, the shielding of ongoing goal pursuit from unwanted influences, disengagement from failing courses of action, and conservation of capability for future goal striving. There was also strong support for postulated component processes: Implementation intention formation both enhanced the accessibility of specified opportunities and automated respective goal‐directed responses. Several directions for future research are outlined.

Introduction

Understanding what factors determine whether people succeed or fail in achieving desired outcomes is a fundamental concern in both basic and applied psychology. Most theories of motivation and self‐regulation converge on the idea that setting a behavioral or outcome goal is the key act of willing that promotes goal attainment (e.g., Ajzen 1991, Atkinson 1957, Bandura 1991, Carver 1998, Gollwitzer 1990, Locke 1990). The basic assumption is that the strength of a person's intention determines respective accomplishments (Austin 1996, Gollwitzer 1996, Oettingen 2001, Sheeran 2002). Although accumulated research supports this idea (e.g., Armitage 2001, Sheeran 2002, Sutton 1998), there is also contrary evidence that gives credence to the proverb that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions” (Orbell 1998, Sheeran 2002). To address this issue, Gollwitzer 1993, Gollwitzer 1996, Gollwitzer 1999 proposed that successful goal achievement is facilitated by a second act of willing that furnishes the goal intention with an if–then plan specifying when, where, and how the person will instigate responses that promote goal realization. These plans are termed implementation intentions.

Implementation intentions appear to be effective at enhancing the likelihood of goal achievement. However, the effectiveness of if–then planning has been reviewed only in narrative (e.g., Gollwitzer 1999, Gollwitzer 2005) and small‐scale quantitative (e.g., Koestner 2002b, Sheeran 2002) reports to date, and a comprehensive evaluation of implementation intention effects and processes is overdue. The aim of this review is to quantify the overall impact of implementation intention formation on goal achievement using meta‐analytic techniques. In addition, this chapter tests the effectiveness of implementation intentions in relation to different self‐regulatory problems and goal domains and assesses potential moderators of implementation intention effects. Finally, the impact of implementation intentions on theoretically specified component processes is examined to understand why implementation intentions may help people obtain outcomes that they desire.

Section snippets

Goal Intention Strength and Goal Achievement

Goal intentions are self‐instructions to attain certain outcomes or perform particular behaviors and typically take the format of “I intend to reach Z!” They are derived from beliefs about the feasibility and desirability of actions and end states (e.g., Ajzen 1991, Atkinson 1957, Bandura 1991, Bandura 1997, Brehm 1989, Carver 1998, Heckhausen 1991, Locke 1990, Vroom 1964) and represent the culmination of the decision making process (Gollwitzer, 1990). Goal intentions signal the end of

Self‐Regulation of Goal Striving

Recent research on goals has demonstrated that variables other than strength of goal intention affect the intensity of goal striving and rate of goal attainment (Gollwitzer 1996, Oettingen 2001). Some goal theories focus on the implications of particular goal contents and structural features. For instance, people who set themselves learning goals rather than performance goals are better at dealing with failure experiences and, consequently, show more persistent and successful goal pursuit (

Present Review

Accumulated research indicates that there is a substantial gap between people's goal intentions and their goal achievement. This is because forming a goal intention does not prepare people sufficiently for dealing with self‐regulatory problems in initiating, maintaining, disengaging from, or overextending oneself in goal striving. Forming an implementation intention, on the other hand, spells out the when, where, and how of goal striving in advance. If–then plans are therefore thought to

Conclusions

Goal intentions are not always successfully translated into behavior because merely making a commitment to attain a goal does not necessarily prepare people for dealing effectively with self‐regulatory problems in goal striving. This chapter tested the idea that goal striving could benefit from a second act of willing—the formation of if–then plans—that focuses on the enactment of goal intentions. A meta‐analysis of 94 studies showed that forming an implementation intention makes an important

Acknowledgments

We thank Icek Ajzen, Christopher J. Armitage, Paul Dholakia, Rob Holland, Richard Koestner, Sonia Lippke, Andrew Prestwich, Falko Sniehotta, Liz Steadman, and Jochen Philipp Ziegelman for access to unpublished findings, and Tom Webb, Ute Bayer, Anja Achtziger, Inge Schweiger Gallo, Alex Jaudas, Georg Odenthal, Caterina Gawrilow, and Tanya Faude for comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript.

Preparation of this chapter was supported in part by National Institute of Health grant (R01–67100)

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