Home / Summaries / Class notes - Health and Medical psychology / intentions-behavior-unwanted

But.. wanting ≠ doing

6 important questions on But.. wanting ≠ doing

What is a good intervention for bridging the gap between wanting and doing?

Implementation intentions (Gollwitzer, 1993; 1999)

- Self-regulation skill: making plans = volitional phase

• Motivational phase = setting goals/ intentions
• Volitional phase = translate intentions into behavior
• Assumption: sufficient motivation

How can you implement intentions to change behavior?

If situation x arises, then I will perform goal-directed behavior Y

so ask the questions:
- when
- where
- how

Why is impemantion of intensions effective?

- increased activation of the specified cue
- automatic activation of the specified response

Can you also use intensions when you want to stop doing something?

Yes, but more difficult. You need a strong inside of the behavior.
Unfortunately people may lack insight into (the causes of) their own behavior, e.g.,:

• In a neutral or cold state the impact of hot cues (hunger, emotions etc) is underestimated. (e.g., Van Boven & Loewenstein, 2003).

• Emotional Eating: Strongly believing that you eat when experiencing negative emotions does not mean you actually do this. (e.g., Adriaanse, De Ridder & Evers, 2011)

--> Adding other strategies, e.g., cue-monitoring

How to change an existing habit?

find the cue

link it to an alternative behavior

If I encounter critical cue X, then I will perform alternative behavior Y!

How to disrupt unwanted habits?

Remove or avoid cue
- Getting ahead of unwanted habits
- Changing the environment/removing the cue

Utilizing (creating?) new situations:
- New house
- New job
- New team
- Corona?

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

Health and Medical psychology

View summary