An implementation intention (II) is a self-regulatory strategy in the form of an if-then-plan (“If situation X arises, I will perform response Y”) that can lead to better goal attainment. It is subordinate to goal intentions as it specifies the when, where and how of a goal-directed behavior. The concept of implementation intentions was introduced by the psychologist Peter Gollwitzer (for a summary see: Gollwitzer, 1999).[1] Studies have shown (e.g., Gollwitzer & Brandstatter, 1997)[2] that implementation intentions help people initiate working towards their goal and help make the process feel automatic over time.
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Following the argumentation that people generally do have good intentions but failing to act on them (Orbell&Sheeran, 1998) [3] the essential question is how goal intentions, once set, will more reliably lead to goal-directed behavior and attainment of goals.
Goal achievement normally makes necessary certain goal-directed behavior. There are various reasons why goal-directed behavior rarely is successful. For example, it is very common that people do not initiate goal directed behavior in the first place or they get distracted along the way. Reasons for a lack of initiation of goal-directed behavior may be distractors or the fact that some opportunities for goal directed behavior show themselves only a short period of time. The other problem, not being able to keep on striving, is a very common problem when striving for a long-term goal which does not show an immediate effect and is related to high personal costs (e.g. healthy diet).
Both, the problem of action initiation and the problem of maintenance of goal-directed behavior, can be faced by using implementation intentions. This if-then-plan does not name a goal in its unspecific form (e.g. goal intentions such as: “I want to reach X”) but rather connect a critical situation (an opportunity for goal attainment) with a goal-directed behavior and thereby lead to automatization in goal striving. Having formed a concrete plan involving a specific situation, this situation becomes mentally represented and activated which leads to better perception, attention and memory concerning the critical situation. As a result, the chosen goal-directed behavior (the then-part of the plan) will be performed automatically (without conscious effort). This has various advantages such as having more cognitive resources available for other tasks or not easily becoming distracted. It is also assumed that an implementation intention, once set, will run non-consciously. This process is also called strategic automaticity.
After all, the strength of commitment related to both the plan set and the goal is very important for the implementation intention to have an effect on people´s behavior. Without commitment, an implementation intention will hardly have an effect on goal-directed behavior.
Speaking in terms of the phase model of action (Gollwitzer, 1990),[4] the use of implementation intention takes place in the postdecisional phase (implemental mindset, volition is the driving force of action) which follows the predecisional phase (deliberative mindset, motivation is the driving force of setting goals). In the implemental mindset, a person is already committed to a goal and an implementation intention can be a good strategy to reach this goal.
A lot of research concerning implementation intentions has been conducted to shed light on the questions of the initiation of goal striving (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006)[5] whereas the study of shielding of ongoing goal striving has been neglected in former research.
One study to face this question is reported by Achziger, Gollwitzer and Sheeran (Achziger et al., 2008).[6] It is shown that implementaion intentions even help people to shield goal striving from unwanted thoughts and feelings such as cravings for junk food and distracting thoughts. Two field experiments, concerning dieting (Study 1) and performance in sports (Study2), show a significant positive influence of implementation intentions on protecting ongoing goal striving. Participants who formed implementation intentions were more successful with long-term dieting and concentration and performance in a tennis match. If-then-plans focus on the prevention of distracting thoughts and an efficient accomplishment of cognitive, motivational and emotional barriers of goal striving.
As these studies were run in everyday situations outside an artificial laboratory, they have a high external validity and thus show the importance and meaningfulness of implementation intentions for everyday life.
In 2009 Gallo, Keil, Gollwitzer, Rockstroh and McCulloch (Gallo et al., 2009)[7] published another study, which was conducted to address the effectiveness of implementation intentions in regulating emotional reactivity.
Therefore disgust- (Study 1) and fear- (Study 2) eliciting stimuli were viewed under 3 different self-regulation instructions: the simple goal intention not to get frightened or disgusted ( “ I will not get frightened “), this goal intention with an additional implementation intention ( “And if I see a spider, I will stay calm and relaxed”) and a no- self-regulation control group. Disgust was selected because it is almost universally considered to be a basic emotion in the literature. Fear was selected, because anxiety disorders, such as panic disorders or phobias, are common and affect the life of many people. The participants had to report on the intensity of the elicited emotions by rating experienced arousal. Only implementation intention-participants succeeded in reducing their disgust and fear reactions compared to the other groups.
These results support the idea that self -regulation by simple goal intentions runs into problems when immediate and strong emotional reactivity has to be down regulated whereas implementation intentions has to be shown to be a powerful tool of self-regulation.
As reported by Theodore A. Powers and colleagues, implementation intentions seem to have a negative effect on performance in people high on socially prescribed perfectionism (Powers et al., 2005).[8]
Research has shown that general goal intentions (e.g., “I strongly intend to reach X”) only explain for 20-30% of the variance of behavioral change. After all, past behavior still tend to be a better predictor for people´s future behavior compared to goal intentions (Gollwitzer,1999).[9]
Various variables determine the success of goal attainment such as the framing of goal setting. For example, goals that are set in a challenging, specific way lead to greater success than goals that are set in a challenging but vague way (Locke&Latham, 1990).[10] On the basis of these findings, the strategy of implementation intentions has been developed.
Implementation Intentions and Procrastination, Psychology Today