Implementation Intentions Research Articles

Can a simple plan change a complex behavior? Implementation intentions in the context of water drinking

Underhydration has significant adverse physical and mental health effects, yet many people drink too little water. Implementation intentions have been found to effectively promote many health behaviors, but little is known about the processes underlying their effects in naturalistic settings, and whether they could improve water drinking. This mixed-methods study assessed the impact and potential underlying processes of using implementation intentions to increase self-reported water intake over a five-day follow-up. Ninety-five participants (Mage = 39, SD = 12) received an educational quiz to increase their water drinking motivation before being randomly assigned to the control or intervention group. Participants also completed a qualitative survey that assessed the processes underlying their attempts to increase water intake. Quantitative results suggested that most participants increased their average daily water intake regardless of group. Qualitative results indicated that implementation intention participants struggled with remembering and the perceived effort of preparation and drinking behaviors, which reduced the effect of planning on behavior. This study provides essential theoretical and methodological considerations for researchers studying implementation intentions, as the effects and mechanisms of implementation intentions in real-life situations may be more complex than previously assumed. For example, the results suggest that implementation intentions did not automatize remembering and performing the behavior in ways the current literature theorizes. Other kinds of interventions may be needed to improve the complex daily-life behaviour of water drinking.

Feasibility and outcomes from using a commitment device and text message reminders to increase adherence to time-restricted eating: A randomized trial

Obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease, particularly through its effects on blood pressure. Though maintaining a negative caloric balance leads to weight loss, many patients struggle to adhere to low calorie diets over the long term. Time-restricted eating, a subtype of intermittent fasting (IF), may be an easier dietary pattern for patients to initiate and maintain. We tested the feasibility of a bidirectional texting strategy to help patients with obesity and hypertension initiate and maintain time-restricted eating, and whether a commitment device, a pledge to behave in a certain way in the future while making nonadherence costlier, would increase adherence beyond bidirectional texting. Patients with obesity and hypertension seen in cardiology clinics were provided education on time-restricted eating and randomized to a commitment device versus attention control. Attention control consisted of daily bidirectional text messages asking whether patients adhered to IF and weekly text messages asking participants to send their weight and blood pressure. The commitment device involved the same text messages as attention control, plus a commitment contract, setting of implementation intentions with respect to details of time-restricted eating, and involvement of a support partner who received weekly updates on the participant's adherence to time-restricted eating. The intervention lasted 12 weeks, followed by a 6-week follow-up period. The primary outcome was days per week adherent to time-restricted eating over the 18-week study period, measured by daily self-report. We also compared change from baseline weight and blood pressure between randomized groups. A total of 37 patients were randomized and started the study-20 to attention control and 17 to the commitment device. Mean age was 60 years old, and mean BMI was 38.4 kg/m2. Over the 18-week study period, the mean ± standard deviation (SD) number of days per week adherent to time-restricted eating was 4.7 ± 1.9 in the control arm and 5.4 ± 1.7 in the intervention arm (P=.23). Mean systolic blood pressure declined from 135 to 128 mm Hg among all participants (P=.006) with no difference between groups in change from baseline blood pressure (P=.74). Weight decreased from 229 to 223 pounds among all participants (P=.25) with no significant difference between groups in change from baseline weight (P=.84). A bidirectional texting strategy was feasible for helping patients with obesity and hypertension initiate and adhere to time-restricted eating. Adding a commitment device to bidirectional texting did not increase adherence to time-restricted eating compared with attention control, nor were there significant between group changes in blood pressure or weight, but these comparisons were underpowered. A larger randomized trial of the effect of this scalable intervention, compared with usual care, on blood pressure and weight among patients with obesity and hypertension is warranted. clinicaltrials.gov; unique identifier: NCT04836312.

Promoting Physical Activity among Working Women: The Influence of Perceived Policy Effectiveness and Health Awareness.

In recent years, patients with chronic diseases have shown a younger trend due to physical inactivity and irregular lifestyles. Accordingly, the Chinese government has implemented the "National Fitness Program", which aims to enhance people's health by popularizing exercise and a healthy lifestyle. However, women are less physically active than men, and how to appeal to women to devote themselves to fitness activities has become a social concern. Based on the expanded theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study explores the impact of the perceived policy effectiveness and health awareness on physical activity among working women. This study adopted a repeated cross-sectional study method, and each respondent was asked to complete a two-stage survey. The structural model of the extended TPB was tested using sample data from 376 working women in Changsha, China. The results show that perceived policy effectiveness and health awareness positively affect actual behavioral control and implementation intention. Among them, perceived policy effectiveness has the most significant impact on implementation intention, followed by health awareness. Furthermore, actual behavioral control and implementation intention mediate the relationship between perceived policy effectiveness/health awareness and physical activity. The findings suggest that to promote physical activity among working women, the Chinese government should deepen the implementation of the "National Fitness Program" and raise the public's health awareness.

Research on the Spatial and Temporal Differences in Public Response to Release-Type Communication to Stop Food Waste

Release-type communication is a common way to guide the public to reduce food waste. It is of great significance to clarify the intervention effect of release-type communication on residents’ waste behavior and reveal the time evolution law of public response to reduce food waste. This study obtains 13,958 comments on food waste through big data mining and explores characteristics of public response to food waste behavior in different time and space from two dimensions of support intention and implementation intention. Through statistical analysis, empirical mode decomposition method, and cross-analysis, we find that: Public concern about release-type communication to stop food waste has experienced five stages: Incubation period, outbreak period, recession period, second outbreak period, and fading period. Overall, the support intention presents a down-up-down trend, the implementation intention rises and then descends, both appear inflection point in recession period. The trend term of empirical mode decomposition shows that the support intention goes down, the implementation intention goes up. Besides, the support intention and implementation intention of release-type communication to stop food waste are generally higher in western China. In particular, the support intention is significantly reduced in Beijing, Guangdong, and Fujian. The implementation intention is significantly increased in Shanghai, while it’s reduced notably in Shandong. This study provides important implications for guiding the public to reduce food waste, the government should formulate differentiated governance strategies to guide the public to reduce food waste according to the time change characteristics and spatial territorial differences of the public on release-type communication.

The effect of implementation intentions on event-, time-, and activity-based prospective memory in typically developing children

Prospective memory (PM) refers to the ability to remember and complete planned tasks in the future, which relies on working memory (WM) for encoding and maintaining the intention. Implementation intention is a useful strategy for improving PM function in adults. Yet the effect of implementation intentions in children, and whether factors such as age, gender, and WM capacity could modulate its effect remains unclear. In this study, we examined the effect of implementation intentions on PM in 154 children at 7–11 years of age. The standard group received standard instructions on PM task, whereas the implementation intention group received additional PM instruction, which comprised the “if . then .” format and guided visual imagery of the PM scenario. Participants completed the computer-based PM tasks (tapping into focal event-, time-, and activity-based PM) and the WM tests. The results showed that the two groups exhibited similar focal event-, time-, and activity-based PM performance. Although age and gender did not modulate the effect of implementation intentions on PM, WM capacity moderated the implementation intention effect on time-based PM. Specifically, higher WM capacity predicted higher implementation intention benefit. These findings suggest that children with higher WM capacity may have higher chance to benefit from the implementation intention strategy.

Bridging Intention-Behavior Gap through Implementation Intention: Conceptual Insight

The gap between intention and behavior is considered as a psychological state of the individual to perform any planned action. Scholars define this gap by implementation intention, and they argue the impact of implementation intention to transform intention into an action. It can be argued that this transformation is much more relevant and important in Entrepreneurship as it entails a series of planned actions. Thus, entrepreneurs must play a major role in converting intention to actions/behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to explore the concept “implantation intention” to bridge the gap between intention and behavior from entrepreneurial perspective. A thorough literature review and integration of prominent psychological and social psychology theories are used to conceptualize the implementation intention. Further, empirical review shows its impact as a mediating and moderating variable in understanding the link between intention and behavior. This review provides meaningful insights to understand and link intention and behavior. Further increased understanding helps to enhance intention-based behaviors and positive impact can be expected on performance. There is a dearth of scholarly investigation on implementation intention in entrepreneurship. Thus, this paper contributes the field of entrepreneurship by exploring the role of implementation intention in an entrepreneurial perspective.

Autonomous motivation promotes goal attainment through the conscious investment of effort, but mental contrasting with implementation intentions makes goal striving easier

ABSTRACT People with autonomous motives (e.g., personal importance) may use automated strategies to effortlessly sustain goal-directed behavior and overcome obstacles. We investigated whether conscious effort, ease of goal striving, physiological effort, and the number of obstacles encountered mediate relations between motives and goal attainment for a competitive cycling goal. Additionally, half the participants (n = 57) were trained in Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) – a technique that facilitates development of goal-directed behavior – with remaining participants (n = 54) treated as controls. Conscious investment of effort mediated relations between autonomous motives and goal attainment. Subjective ease of goal striving and physiological effort did not. This result indicates that successful goal striving is not perceived as effortless for autonomously motivated individuals working on competitive goals. Conversely, MCII predicted a reduction in obstacles, which in turn was associated with easier goal striving but not goal attainment. Although MCII did not support goal attainment in the current study, its ability to minimize the influence of obstacles may still be useful for other types of goals or for sustaining long-term goal pursuit.

A mixed-methods examination of clinicians' perceived barriers to telehealth delivered applied behavior analysis.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians relied on telehealth to ensure continuity of essential healthcare services, such as Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Identifying barriers and examining them in the context of other implementation outcomes is important to support appropriate adaptations and sustainability of telehealth-delivered ABA services. Convergent mixed methods design was utilized to identify barriers experienced by ABA clinicians (N = 388) when delivering ABA services over telehealth to autistic children and their families following the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, barriers were examined in relation to telehealth implementation outcomes and intentions for continued adoption. Findings reveal that clinicians rated providing direct services (M = 3.52, SD = 1.14) as more difficult than conducting assessments (M = 3.29, SD = 1.06), and both as more difficult than providing parent-mediated interventions [(M = 2.47, SD = 1.11), F(2, 381) = 162.26, p < 0.001]. A principal components analysis indicated a 3-factor solution of barriers related to: (1) technology (α = 0.82), (2) administrative tasks (α = 0.88), and (3) client characteristics (α = 0.88). The most frequently endorsed barriers were related to client characteristics, including increased difficulty providing telehealth services to children who elope (M = 4.37, SD = 0.81), children who exhibit challenging behaviors (M = 4.31; SD = 0.83), and children who are in the preverbal stage or use nonverbal language to communicate (M = 4.07; SD = 1.00). Fewer barriers related to client characteristics uniquely predicted implementation variables including acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility. Thematic analysis revealed challenges related to technology, caregiver involvement, child engagement, implementation of intervention strategies over telehealth, and administrative or logistical barriers. These findings highlight the need for targeted strategies that facilitate telehealth use to address specific client needs and support the implementation of telehealth services in usual care settings.

Understanding factors affecting implementation success and sustainability of a comprehensive prevention program for cardiovascular disease in primary health care: a qualitative process evaluation study combining RE-AIM and CFIR.

Our aim was to evaluate the implementation process of a comprehensive cardiovascular disease prevention program in general practice, to enhance understanding of influencing factors to implementation success and sustainability, and to learn how to overcome barriers. Cardiovascular disease and its risk factors are the world's leading cause of mortality, yet can be prevented by addressing unhealthy lifestyle behavior. Nevertheless, the transition toward a prevention-oriented primary health care remains limited. A better understanding of factors facilitating or hindering implementation success and sustainability of prevention programs, and how barriers may be addressed, is needed. This work is part of Horizon 2020 project 'SPICES', which aims to implement validated preventive interventions in vulnerable populations. We conducted a qualitative process evaluation with participatory action research approach of implementation in five general practices. Data were collected through 38 semi-structured individual and small group interviews with seven physicians, 11 nurses, one manager and one nursing assistant, conducted before, during, and after the implementation period. We applied adaptive framework analysis guided by RE-AIM Qualitative Evaluation for Systematic Translation (RE-AIM QuEST) and Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Multiple facilitators and barriers affected reach of vulnerable target populations: adoption by primary health care providers, implementation and fidelity and intention to maintain the program into routine practice. In addition, our study revealed concrete actions, linked to implementation strategies, that can be undertaken to address identified barriers. Prioritization of prevention in general practice vision, ownership, and shared responsibility of all team members, compatibility with existing work processes and systems, expanding nurse's roles and upskilling competence profiles, supportive financial and regulatory frameworks, and a strong community - health care link are crucial to increase implementation success and long-term maintenance of prevention programs. COVID-19 was a major barrier to the implementation. RE-AIM QuEST, CFIR, and participatory strategies are useful to guide implementation of prevention programs in primary health care.

Supplemental Material for Motives and Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions Predict Progress and Management of Goals in Parents

Supplemental Material for Motives and Mental Contrasting With Implementation Intentions Predict Progress and Management of Goals in Parents

Entrepreneurship goal and implementation intentions formation: the role of higher education institutions and contexts

The concept of intentionality is widely recognised for its contribution to understanding pre-planned human behaviour, hence the need to fathom its underlying determinants as a precursor to any attempts to predict or influence future human activity. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of supportive environments and higher education institutions on students’ entrepreneurial goal and implementation intentions in Zimbabwe. Also, the study sought to evaluate the applicability of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour to the context. A cross-sectional quantitative survey of a convinience sample of students from selected higher education institutions in the country was conducted. The 284 responses obtained from the survey were analysed using the partial least squares structural equation modelling statistical technique. The computer software Smart PLS 3 was used for this purpose. The results indicate a direct influence of university support on entrepreneurial goal intention and perceived behavioural control. In addition, they confirm a direct influence of supportive environments on perceived behavioural control and subjective norms. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that perceived behavioural and subjective norms directly influenced entrepreneurial goal intention. Finally, the results show that entrepreneurial goal intention was a significant predictor of entrepreneurial implementation intention. All other tested relationships were not statistically significant. The study makes two significant contributions to the literature. Firstly, it theorises and empirically tests the influence of supportive educational institutions and external environments on separate classes of entrepreneurial intentions within a single study. Secondly, it tests the relevance of the Theory of Planned Behaviour to two distinct but related categories of entrepreneurial intentions.

The Framing Effect of Digital Textual Messages on Uptake Rates of Medical Checkups: Field Study.

Health care authorities often use text messages to enhance compliance with medical recommendations. The effectiveness of different message framings has been studied extensively over the past 3 decades. Recently, health care providers have begun using digital media platforms to disseminate health-related messages. This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of some of the most widely used message framings on the uptake rates of medical checkups. This study used a large-scale digital outreach campaign conducted by Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS) during 2020-2021, involving a total of 113,048 participants. MHS members aged 50-74 years were invited to take their recommended medical actions from the following list: human papillomavirus (HPV), mammography, abdominal aortic aneurysm, fecal occult blood test (FOBT), and pneumococcal vaccination. Each member was randomly assigned to receive 1 of 6 message framings: control (neutrally framed; n=20,959, 18.5%), gains (benefits of compliance; n=20,393, 18%), losses (negative consequences of noncompliance; n=15,165, 13.4%), recommendation (a recommendation by an authoritative figure, in this context by a physician; n=20,584, 18.2%), implementation intentions (linking potential outcomes to future reactions; n=20,701, 18.3%), and empowerment (emphasizing personal responsibility for maintaining good health; n=15,246, 13.5%). The time frames for measuring a successful intervention were 14 days for scheduling screenings (ie, HPV, mammography, or abdominal aortic aneurysm), 30 days for performing the FOBT, and 60 days for receiving pneumococcal vaccination. We also examined the effectiveness of media channels (text message or email) on uptake rates and whether the subject-line length is correlated with message-opening rates. No significant effect of message framing on uptake rates of medical checkups was observed. The rates of appointments for screening ranged from 12.9% to 14.1% across treatments. Based on a chi-square test, there was no evidence to reject the null hypothesis that these compliance rates are independent of the treatments (P=.35). The uptake rates for the FOBT and pneumococcal vaccination ranged from 23.3% to 23.8% across treatments, and we could not reject the hypothesis that they are independent of the treatments (P=.88). We also found that emails are more effective than text messages (P<.001) and that the subject-line length is negatively correlated with message-opening rates. No evidence was found for an effect of the 5 message framings on uptake rates of medical checkups. To enhance compliance rates, public health officials may consider alternative framings. Furthermore, media channels and the subject-line length should be given careful consideration in the planning stages of health care campaigns. AEA RCT Registry AEARCTR-0006317; https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/6317/history/201365.

Analysis of entrepreneurial implementation intention on vocational education student at Universitas Padjadjaran: An Empirical Analysis

Entrepreneurship is an innovative and creative process that can add value to products, create job opportunities, raise productivity, revitalize, and diversify markets, improve social welfare, and, more broadly, develop the economy. Entrepreneurship education encourages the founding of new businesses by students and alums and equips them with critical decision-making skills that enhance the success of graduates in the job market. That is why we seek to develop better entrepreneurs. Part of that is raising their intentions to start a business; another is making their intentions more realistic. To do both requires a deeper, richer understanding, and analysis of an entrepreneurial implementation intention in vocational education students is essential. In this study, researchers want to know what variables affect Entrepreneurial Implementation Intention in vocational education students at Universitas Padjadjaran. The results of this study found that Entrepreneurial Knowledge affects the main determinant of this research to encourage the increase of Entrepreneurial Implementation Intention.

Instant habits versus flexible tenacity: Do implementation intentions accelerate habit formation?

Implementation intentions (strategic "if-then" plans) have been shown to support behaviour change. This may be achieved by mentally forming stimulus-response associations, thereby promoting habit formation. Does this deliberate attempt to instal "strategic automaticity" only offer advantages, or does it also come at the cost of reduced flexibility that characterises learnt habits? To investigate this, we tested healthy, young participants on a computerised instrumental learning task. Critically, we introduced implementation intentions ("if I see stimulus X, then I will respond") versus goal intentions ("for outcome Z, I will respond)" during instrumental acquisition, and subsequently assessed behavioural flexibility in an outcome-revaluation test. In Experiment 1, we conducted a between-subjects manipulation of strategic planning, and in Experiment 2, a within-subject manipulation. We hypothesised that implementation intentions would lead to strong stimulus-response associations and consequently impair performance when the signalled outcome value changed and therefore required a different response, while benefitting performance when the outcome value (and required response) remained the same. We found that implementation intentions supported instrumental learning, but impaired test performance overall (most robustly in Experiment 2), irrespective of whether the signalled outcome value had changed. We argue that this general detrimental effect of implementation intentions on test performance is likely a consequence of their negative effect on stimulus-outcome learning. Our findings warrant caution when applying if-then plans to situations where the agent does not already possess perfect knowledge of behavioural contingencies.While implementation intentions may support efficient and fast behavioural execution, this may come at the expense of behavioural flexibility.

How to support learning with multimedia instruction: Implementation intentions help even when load is high.

There is ample evidence that multimedia learning is challenging, and learners often underutilize appropriate cognitive processes. Previous research has applied prompts to promote the use of helpful cognitive processing. However, prompts still require learners to regulate their learning, which may interfere with learning, especially in situations where cognitive demands are already high. As an alternative, implementation intentions (i.e. if-then plans) are expected to help regulate behaviour automatically due to their specific wording, thereby offloading demands. Accordingly, this study aimed at investigating whether implementation intentions compared with prompts improve learning performance, especially under high cognitive load. Students (N=120) learned either in a control condition without instructional support, with prompts, or with implementation intentions. Within each condition, half of the participants studied the multimedia instruction under conditions of either high or low cognitive load, which was experimentally manipulated by instructing them to perform one of two secondary tasks. In line with our hypotheses, the results showed that under low cognitive load, both prompts and implementation intentions led to better learning than the control condition. By contrast, under high cognitive load, only implementation intentions promoted learning. Thus, implementation intentions are an efficient means to promote learning even under challenging circumstances.

Fostering victim-defending behaviors among school bullying witnesses: A longitudinal and experimental test of two new strategies for changing behavior

In school bullying, witnesses play a fundamental role because their defensive reactions can stop bullying situations. However, a great majority of witnesses remain passive despite their prodefense personal beliefs. To address this gap between witnesses’ beliefs and behaviors, we developed and tested two social psychology strategies, namely, the induced hypocrisy and implementation intention. In an experimental and longitudinal study (N = 101), we randomly divided 7th- and 8th-grade students into three conditions, namely, control, induced hypocrisy, or implementation intention. Linear mixed models showed that the two strategies immediately increased planned defending behaviors as well as self-reported defending behaviors at three months but with a stronger effect at three months for the induced hypocrisy strategy. These new prevention avenues for practitioners are discussed according to current approaches.

‘Mind will not mind’ – Decoding consumers' green intention-green purchase behavior gap via moderated mediation effects of implementation intentions and self-efficacy

Why do green consumers' purchase intentions often not convert into actual green buying actions? Within green attitude-intention-behavior research, the intention-behavior discord debate is under-researched. Limited research focuses on bridging this intention-behavior gap using consumers' intrapsychic traits (consumers' self-driven traits of psyche or personality). Using a dual-theory perspective, this study analyses whether implementation intentions and self-efficacy types can motivate green consumers to initiate their green actions. The proposed hypotheses are empirically validated using 674 green consumers using a structured questionnaire survey method. Further, Anchoring Vignettes Mechanism has been employed to improve data reliability and ward-off biases in survey measurement. The study decodes that when consumers are provided with cues for implementation intentions and self-efficacy, the combined effect results in motivating consumers toward green action initiation. The moderated-mediation analysis reveals an improved transition of green intentions to green behaviors with increased self-efficacy. The findings provide practical implications for encouraging green purchases.

Do Goal Setting and Implementation Intentions Affect Detachment and Next-Day Fatigue?

Do Goal Setting and Implementation Intentions Affect Detachment and Next-Day Fatigue?

Buildup of implementation intention reduces anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population

Previous research demonstrates that the cue–target paradigm is effective in inducing anticipatory anxiety, whereas the setup of implementation intention is effective in relieving anticipatory anxiety in a healthy sample. However, exploring whether this method can reduce anticipatory anxiety symptoms in high-anxiety individuals is necessary. The response to this question is of importance to clinical application. For this reason, this study applied the cue–target paradigm to induce anticipatory anxiety to potential negative pictures in subjects classified as high- vs. low-anxiety individuals. In addition, subjects were instructed to receive implementation intention or no-regulation instructions to examine the variation in the regulatory effects of implementation intention according to the severity of anxiety. The results demonstrated that high-anxiety participants exhibited increased anticipatory anxiety during uncertain and negative cues compared with those of low-anxiety subjects. In addition, anticipatory anxiety was reduced during implementation intention relative to the control condition. The size of this reduction was similar between the high- and low-anxiety groups. Third, the buildup of implementation intention reduced the anticipatory anxiety of high-anxiety individuals to a level similar to that of low-anxiety individuals in the control condition. These results suggest that setting up implementation intention can effectively down-regulate the symptoms of anticipatory anxiety in a high-anxiety population.

A study on the benefits and intention to implement urban agriculture among urban dwellers: Case study in Southern Region of Malaysia

In Malaysia, urban agriculture activity is getting popular, especially during the pandemic of Covid-19. As the pandemic struck, the economic situation in Malaysia faced a downturn. Rapid urbanization, slow income growth, and unstable food prices in the market are the major problem faced by urban dwellers nowadays. This study discussed the intention to implement among urban dwellers in the southern region of Malaysia and the benefits of urban agriculture that influence their intention. The study employs quantitative analysis and was based on the primary data collected via face-to-face and distributed google form in 5 urban areas in 3 states in the southern region of Malaysia. The total sample size was 214 urban dwellers. Intention level analysis, Correlation analysis, and exploratory factor analysis were used in the study to achieve the objectives. The study shows that the majority of the respondents have moderate to high intention levels. The results indicate a positive relationship between the benefits of urban agriculture and the implementation intention of urban dwellers at a 0.01 significant level. The results also indicate 3 factors that affect the intention to implement which are financial, social, and environmental.