Implementation intention papers

Does situation-specificity affect the operation of implementation intentions?

2017

This paper tested the effectiveness of a tool for delivering implementation intentions called a volitional help sheet. This is a list of critical situations when you might be tempted not to perform the behaviour and a list of solutions to help you with the behaviour. The implementation intention is made when you draw a line between situations (e.g., "If I'm tempted to not be physically active because it is cold outside") that are relevant to you and appropriate solutions (e.g., "then I will exercise indoors").

​

The study compared a standard volitional help sheet (several situations and several solutions), a single situation volitional help sheet (one generic situation, i.e., "If I'm tempted not to be physically active...", and several solutions) and a control condition (a list of situations and solutions but the participants are not asked to link them).

​

We found that people who completed either of the volitional help sheets reported higher level of physical activity than those people in the control condition.

​