Implementation intentions: a look back at fifteen years of progress.

Full Abstract

Implementation intentions are if-then plans that spell out when, where, and how a set goal has to be put into action:
If situation x is encountered, then I will perform behavior y!, thereby linking a critical situation with a goal-directed behavior. Over the last fifteen years, implementation intentions, as compared to simple goal intentions (I intend to reach z!), have demonstrated their effectiveness as self-regulation strategies in promoting desired behaviors or when unpleasant actions have to be carried out. By forming implementation intentions, the control of unwanted influences (e.g., temptations, bad habits, adverse self-states) on an ongoing goal pursuit can also be facilitated. Furthermore, implementation intentions have been shown to ease goal-directed actions in critical populations such as patients with a frontal brain lesion, schizophrenic patients, and opiate addicts in withdrawal, for whom the initiation problems of the goaldirected action are more accentuated.

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Author information

Author/s: Schweiger Gallo, Inge (I); Gollwitzer, Peter M (PM);

Affiliation: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. ingesg(-atsign-)cps.ucm.es

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Psicothema (Psicothema), published in Spain. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Feb; vol 19 (issue 1) : pp 37-42

Dates: Created 2007/02/13; Completed 2007/03/13;

PMID: 17295981, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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