Benefits without costs?: side effects of implementation intentions

Um die Erreichung wichtiger Ziele zu verbessern können Ziel Intentionen („Ich will Ziel Z erreichen!“) mit spezifischen Wenn-Dann Plänen (Vorsätzen) ausgestattet werden, in denen man festlegt, wann, wo und wie man beabsichtigt ein Ziel zu verfolgen („Wenn Situation X auftritt, werde ich Verhalten Y ausführen!“). Bisherige Befunde zeigen, dass Vorsätze, auch wenn sie durch einen intentionalen Willensakt gebildet werden, automatische Effekte haben. Sie verbessern die Wahrnehmung der im Vorsatz definierten Stimuli X (z.B. Aarts, Dijksterhuis, & Midden, 1999) und führen zur automatischen Initiierung des festgelegten Verhaltens Y, sobald die Situation X auftritt (z.B. Brandstätter, Lengfelder, & Gollwitzer, 2001; für eine Übersicht, siehe Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit ist es, die Automatik von Vorsätzen auf nicht-intendierte Nebeneffekte hin zu untersuchen, wenn situative Stimuli X eines Vorsatzes während der Verfolgung eines anderen Ziels als Ziel Z anwesend sind. In fünf Studien wurden Belege für solche nicht-intendierten Nebeneffekte von Vorsätzen gefunden. Es wird demonstriert, dass die automatischen Prozesse von Vorsätzen die Aufmerksamkeit bei der Verfolgung anderer Ziele beeinflussen können (Studien 1-3), und dass gruppen-bezogene Vorsätze Verhalten gegenüber unbeteiligten Fremdgruppen beeinflussen können (Studien 4-5). Die vorliegenden Befunde tragen zur Forschung zu automatischen Effekten von Vorsätzen wie auch zur Forschung zu Beziehungen zwischen sozialen Gruppen bei. ---To improve the attainment of important goals, goal intentions (“I intend to achieve goal Z!”) can be furnished with specific If-Then plans (implementation intentions) that specify when, where, and how one intends to pursue a goal (“If situation X is encountered, I will perform behavior Y!”). Previous findings demonstrate that implementation intentions, even though they are formed through an intentional act of will, have automatic effects. They improve the detection of the critical situation X (e.g., Aarts, Dijksterhuis, & Midden, 1999), and lead to the automatic initiation of the specified actions Y as soon as the specified situation X arises (e.g., Brandstätter, Lengfelder, & Gollwitzer, 2001; for an overview, see Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006). The present research aims to examine unintended side effects of this automaticity of implementation intentions, when situational cues X of an implementation intention are present during the pursuit of another goal than goal Z. In five studies, evidence was found for such unintended side effects of implementation intentions. It is demonstrated that the automatic processes of implementation intentions can bias attention during the pursuit of other goals (Study 1-3), and that group-directed implementation intentions can bias behavior towards uninvolved outgroups (Study 4-5). The present findings contribute to the literature on automatic effects of implementation intentions as well as to the literature on intergroup relations

Planning and the control of action

Planning has been found to have a powerful effect on human actions (e.g., Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006 ). But how do people plan? In this chapter we first introduce implementation intentions (e.g., Gollwitzer, 1999 ) as an efficient way of planning. Implementation intentions refer to specific plans in which individuals and groups can specify when, where, and how they intend to act using an if-then format (e.g., “If I come home from work on Fridays, then I will immediately put on my jogging shoes and go for a 30-minute run!”). After we examine how they support goal pursuit, we differentiate between spontaneous and strategic planning—two ways in which if–then plans can be made on the basis of goal-related knowledge. With respect to spontaneous planning, we highlight the importance of the accessibility of goal-related knowledge. We introduce goal systems theory (Kruglanski, Shah, Fishbach, Friedman, Chun, & Sleeth-Keppler, 2002 ) as a conceptual framework because it addresses the question of how goals can increase the accessibility of knowledge about when, where, and how to pursue the goal. To illustrate how the accessibility of goal-related knowledge facilitates goal attainment, we discuss a set of recent studies. They show that individuals spontaneously grasp goal-relevant information in the form of implementation intentions (Marquardt, Tröger, Wieber, & Gollwitzer, 2016 ; see also Marquardt, 2011 ) even if it is incidentally provided in their environment and that they use this knowledge to improve their goal attainment without being prompted to do so

How to become a health promotion practitioner? : a longitudinal study on professional identity formation and study success

Developing a professional identity (PI) is associated with various positive outcomes such as strengthened social support, mental health, life satisfaction, and wellbeing. Moreover, the development of a PI leads to the successful adoption of a professional role, which – according to the FAME consortium – represents a prerequisite for quality awareness, professional commitment, ethical behavior, and a sense of professional commitment. Given this importance of a PI, the present research aims to explore the PI development for a health profession that has not received much attention yet, namely health promotion practitioners. This PI development is particularly interesting as the education and the professional practice of health promotion and prevention practitioners is characterized by extensive inter- and trans-professional collaboration and by the large number of very different career paths; both factors that can be assumed to challenge the development of a strong professional PI. Building on the conceptual background of the identity-status model (Mancini et al., 2015), students of a newly established health promotion and prevention undergraduate program in Switzerland filled in questionnaires regarding their PI development at the beginning of their studies as well as after the 3rd semester. As a control group, first year students of the physiotherapy undergraduate program were recruited; a profession that has a long-standing history and relatively well-defined career paths. The status of the PIs and its development during this first year are analyzed and compared between professions. Implications for the design of programs will be discussed

Vom Wollen zum Handeln : wie Sie Ihre Ziele in die Tat umsetzen

Man hat sich fest vorgenommen, mehr Sport zu treiben; trotzdem sitzt man vor dem Fernseher, anstatt im Park zu joggen. Warum setzen wir dieses und andere wichtige Ziele nicht in die Tat um? Und was kann man tun, um seine Ziele besser zu erreichen? In diesem Artikel diskutieren wir drei Hindernisse auf dem Weg zum Ziel und stellen einen einfachen, gut erforschten Motivations-Kniff vor, um sie zu überwinden. So zeigen wir, wie Sie im Alltag Ihre Ziele erreichen können

Planning and performance in small groups : collective implementation intentions enhance group goal striving

There are two key motivators to perform well in a group: making a contribution that (a) is crucial for the group (indispensability) and that (b) the other group members recognize (identifiability). We argue that indispensability promotes setting collective ("We") goals whereas identifiability induces individual ("I") goals. Although both goals may enhance performance, they should align with different strategies. Whereas pursuing collective goals should involve more cooperation, pursuing individual goals should involve less cooperation. Two experiments support this reasoning and show that planning out collective goals with collective implementation intentions (cIIs or "We-plans") relies on cooperation but planning out individual goals with individual implementation intentions (IIs or "I-plans") does not. In Experiment 1, three-member groups first formed a collective or an individual goal and then performed a first round of a physical persistence task. Groups then either formed a respective implementation intention (cII or II) or a control plan and then performed a second round of the task. Although groups with cIIs and IIs performed better on a physical persistence task than respective control groups, only cII groups interacted more cooperatively during task performance. To confirm the causal role of these interaction processes, Experiment 2 used the same persistence task and manipulated whether groups could communicate: When communication was hindered, groups with cIIs but not groups with IIs performed worse. Communication thus qualifies as a process making cIIs effective. The present research offers a psychology of action account to small group performance

Professional Identity Formation in Health Promotion Practitioners: Students’ Perspectives during an Undergraduate Program in Switzerland

The health promotion (HP) community advocates for capacity building, quality assurance and political awareness of HP. Professional identity (PI) is of great relevance to these goals as persons who strongly identify with their profession better adopt their professional role, raising the quality, competence and common values within a professional group. However, investigations on the HP workforce are missing. In order to investigate PI formation in HP professionals, a longitudinal study was conducted with two student cohorts of a Swiss HP and prevention undergraduate program. Using a qualitative approach, focus groups were conducted at the beginning and end of the undergraduate program. Data were transcribed verbatim and condensed using thematic analysis. The results highlight the complexity of the HP’s professional profile. While students experienced difficulties to capture the profile at the beginning of the program, at the end they developed an understanding of it. The practical experience within work placements helped students to grasp the profile and specify their future professional role. Several behavioral, cognitive and motivational aspects were identified that influence HP students’ PI formation and can be fostered. For instance, universities can commit to public relations for HP practitioners and support the PI formation throughout the study program

Supporting Sustainable Food Consumption: Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions (MCII) Aligns Intentions and Behavior

With growing awareness that sustainable consumption is important for quality of life on earth, many individuals intend to act more sustainably. In this regard, interest in reducing meat consumption is on the rise. However, people often do not translate intentions into actual behavior change. To address this intention-behavior gap, we tested the self-regulation strategy of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII). Here, people identify and imagine a desired future and current obstacles standing in its way. They address the obstacles with if-then plans specifying when, where, and how to act differently. In a 5-week randomized controlled experimental study, we compared an information C MCII intervention with an information-only control intervention. As hypothesized, only MCII participants’ intention of reducing their meat consumption was predictive of their actual reduction, while no correspondence between intention and behavior change was found for control participants. Participants with a moderate to strong intention to reduce their meat consumption reduced it more in the MCII than in the control condition. Thus, MCII helped to narrow the intention-behavior gap and supported behavior change for those holding moderate and strong respective intentions

Interprofessional Collaboration in Fall Prevention: Insights from a Qualitative Study

(1) Background and objective: to explore the experiences of Swiss health care providers involved in a community fall prevention pilot project on barriers and facilitations in interprofessional cooperation between 2016 and 2017 in three regions of Switzerland. (2) Methods: semi-structured interviews with health care providers assessed their perspective on the evaluation of jointly developed tools for reporting fall risk, continuous training of the health care providers, sensitizing media campaigns, and others. (3) Results: One of the project’s strengths is the interprofessional continuous trainings. These trainings allowed the health care providers to extend their network of health care providers, which contributed to an improvement of fall prevention. Challenges of the project were that the standardization of the interprofessional collaboration required additional efforts. These efforts are time consuming and, for some categories of health care providers, not remunerated by the Swiss health care system. (4) Conclusions: On a micro and meso level, the results of the present study indicate that the involved health care providers strongly support interprofessional collaboration in fall prevention. However, time and financial constraints challenge the implementation. On a macro level, potential ways to strengthen interprofessional collaboration are a core element in fall prevention

Voluntary sports programs for individuals with mental health disorders: The trainer’s view

There is strong evidence that physical activities (PAs) are an important factor in increasing and maintaining mental health as well as in preventing relapse after mental health disorders. Physical activity is an important part of the treatment program in psychiatric hospitals. However, when individuals with mental health disorders (IMHD) leave the hospitals in Switzerland (CH), there are few possibilities to do physical activity in a given setting. One of them are voluntary sports groups for individuals with mental health disorders (SGPSY), which have been growing continuously in CH since 2016. Yet, little is known about these groups and their training settings. Therefore, the present study explores challenges, barriers, and enablers for participation in SGPSY from the point of view of the trainers of these groups. Additionally, as the sustainable implementation of SGPSY relies on the trainer, the study aims to identify reasons/motivations as well as the personality characteristics of the SGPSY trainers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 trainers of SGPSY in CH during spring 2022. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using thematic analysis in nVivo. Participants identified several intrapersonal (lack of motivation and fitness, mood problems, etc.), interpersonal (conflicts between participants), and structural barriers (time/location) that hinder IMHD from participating in SGPSY. The participating trainer reported that trainer might be helpful in overcoming the barriers by supporting IMHD as enablers. They rate social skills to be essential for the successful management and organization of SGPSY, as well as the ability to set boundaries to protect one’s private life and sports skills expertise. The reasons for their engagement as trainers of SGPSY were the satisfaction of doing sports with IMHD and to improve the physical activities habits of IMHD. The findings of the study highlight the need to upskill the trainers of SGPSY in order to improve recruitment of the future trainers of SGPSY by focusing on the assessment of appropriate personality characteristics of trainers and their motives. Additionally, these findings should be integrated in the educational materials of Swiss disabled sports systems. Further research should validate the results from SGPSY participants’ point of view

The Making of ADHD: A Comparative Content Analysis of Teachers’ and Doctors’ Worldviews

Little is known about how teachers and doctors make sense of ADHD. Drawing on a corpus of online accounts, we reconstructed their worldviews with a qualitative analysis. While both professional groups referred to a male troublemaker and to the German literary figure of the Fidgety Phil, they also expressed rival expert claims. Doctors represented the scientific authority in labeling and diagnosing ADHD, whereas teachers attached objective meaning to the medical judgement by pathologizing deviant behavior and justifying measures of control