Rephrase New Year’s resolutions into questions
Rephrasing your New Year’s resolutions into questions (e.g. Will you exercise this year?) will make them more effective.
Writing in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, marketing researchers from the University of California, Irvine, the University at Albany, State University of New York, the University of Idaho and Washington State University examined why the effect occurs.
“If you question a person about performing a future behavior, the likelihood of that behavior happening will change,” said Dave Sprott, a co-author and senior associate dean of the Carson College of Business, Washington State University.
The basic idea is that when people are asked ‘Will you recycle?’ it causes a psychological response that can influence their behavior when they get a chance to recycle. The question reminds them that recycling is good for the environment but may also make them feel uncomfortable if they are not recycling. Thus, they become motivated to recycle to alleviate their feelings of discomfort.
Overall, the researchers’ findings suggest questioning is a relatively simple yet effective technique to produce consistent, significant changes across a wide domain of behaviors. The technique can sway people toward cheating less in college, exercising more, recycling, or reducing gender stereotyping.
The researchers suggest the key to influencing someone’s behavior is to ask a question rather than make a statement. For example, parents asking their high school-age children, ‘Will you drink and drive?’ should be more effective than when they say, ‘Don’t drink and drive.’
For people making New Year’s resolutions, a question like, ‘Will I exercise — yes or no?’ may be more effective than declaring, ‘I will exercise.’
