Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Martin Banks gives us three lessons from behavioural science that will make you stick to your New Years’ Resolutions.
Almost a quarter of people will have already failed their New Year’s resolution. By the end of the month, that number will have increased to some 43%.
We all subconsciously assume that, when we embark upon a resolution, it is the sincerity of the intention that governs whether or not we will succeed in keeping it. If a person fails, we’re likely to judge that it was, in large part, because he set his expectations higher than the level he was really willing to commit to, or that he made the commitment in a frivolous manner.
Psychologists and behavioural scientists, on the other hand, tend to see New Year’s Resolutions breaking as a failure to really understand how our own minds are motivated. They key insight is that motivation is not a constant, but a function of how we structure and think about the challenges we set for ourselves.
The bad news is that sheer good intentions can often not be enough to make permanent the changes we want to see. But the good news is that by understanding some of the basics of behavioural science, we can learn reliable and durable strategies to help us stick with all sorts of challenges, routine changes and, yes, to succeeding in transformational New Year’s Resolutions.
Albert Bandura was a professor of social science in psychology at Stanford University, best known for developing his Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) in his 1989 paper. In the same way that a piano lesson motivates people to practice, or an in-person consultation with a doctor motivates people to take their medications diligently, Social Cognitive Theory shows us how our social environment influences us as active agents, alongside our personal and behavioural factors.
SCT therefore has massive implications for the way we are motivated. Mastery modelling, for instance, shows how the imitation of role models can help people learn new skills much faster than through traditional teaching methods. Self-efficacy regulatory mechanisms are another central component of SCT, referring to the ability to internally reward and punish oneself for good behaviours, to believe in one’s own capacity to achieve them and to resist social pressure to fail. Thirdly, SCT teaches us about the self-regulation of action though goal systems.
Using key insights from experiments in managerial decision making and in personal motivation, we can highlight some key strategies. “Accountability” as a concept is crucial, and SCT teaches us that we need to build in accountability both to ourselves and to our social group.
Being accountable to ourselves can mean different things to different people, but clear strategies include writing our commitments down. This strategy is doubly effective for it also helps with self-efficacy, since by writing down in clear terms what we aim to do, and the steps required to make it, we can build task-specific confidence in our ability to carry it out.
A second clear strategy is to simply tell our friends about what we are doing. Research has consistently shown that your friends can hold you accountable just like a piano teacher or a gym buddy. Humans are hard-wired to care deeply about our social image and the perceptions of others. We can harness this social power to supercharge our commitments to our resolutions, but being cautious to keep the pressure positive.
Bandura proposed that motivation is composed of expectancy, value and affective reaction. Positive reinforcement, also known as vicarious reinforcement, can help us imitate good behaviours in others. Alongside telling supportive friends about our resolutions, taking inspiration from role models is key. Countless SCT studies have shown that imitation is an incredibly influential determinant of behaviour.
Our choice of role model is therefore important. Imitation is more likely if we identify more closely and share characteristics with the role model, such as age, gender or social status. It’s also more likely to work if associated with positive emotions, such as happiness, fulfilment, rather than based on the avoidance of punishment.
If we’re to keep our self-efficacy regulatory mechanisms in check, we need to build and maintain confidence in our ability to stick with the challenge. Breaking down the challenge into smaller parts.
We also need to think about our friction points – those moments in our day when our self-discipline will be at its weakest, and to identify those triggers. These might be little habits like opening a can of beer when we get home, or having a cigarette with your morning coffee. These are the moments when hightened self efficacy must come into play.
Tools can be simple – like chewing sugarfree gum or drinking herbal tea. Studies have shown that things like gum can replace habits like cigarettes or alcohol by channelling our habits and anxieties into a new activity. The more flavours and textures there are to focus on, the stronger an aid it will be to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), a form of self reflection that can help us work out our motivations and triggers.
This also means we must make a plan for self care. If and when we should be derailed, these strategies will help us bounce back into our new regimes rather than giving up on them altogether.
When we think about another person being “more motivated” than us, we must force ourselves to consider that, perhaps, they are just much better at employing these mental strategies to keep themselves on task.
