人人都有壞習(xí)慣,比如有的人喜歡在心情不好的時(shí)候吃零食,有的會(huì)在和朋友聚會(huì)時(shí)酗酒,有的則把過多的時(shí)間浪費(fèi)在社交媒體上,還有的容易與同事、朋友和家人發(fā)生不必要爭執(zhí)。 朋友和治療專家可能會(huì)說,要改掉這些壞習(xí)慣,就必須將其作為自己的目標(biāo),然后假以時(shí)日,只要自己夠努力,就一定會(huì)擺脫這些習(xí)慣。然而,動(dòng)機(jī)學(xué)領(lǐng)域的廣泛研究顯示,設(shè)定控制壞習(xí)慣的目標(biāo)與真正貫徹執(zhí)行之間存在著巨大的差距。對(duì)于壞習(xí)慣來說,這一點(diǎn)千真萬確,而且壞習(xí)慣影響著人們生活的方方面面,比如健康、工作和社交生活。因此,我們?cè)鯓硬拍芸s小理想目標(biāo)和現(xiàn)實(shí)行動(dòng)之間的差距? 在我于美國和德國開展的有關(guān)“個(gè)人目標(biāo)實(shí)現(xiàn)自律情況”的研究中,我發(fā)現(xiàn)人們必須制定貫徹目標(biāo)的計(jì)劃。最有效的計(jì)劃會(huì)采用“如果-那么”的句式,詳細(xì)列明當(dāng)事人希望在何時(shí)、何處、以怎樣的方式實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)。以朋友聚會(huì)時(shí)酗酒為例。在計(jì)劃里的“如果”部分,你應(yīng)該寫明哪些環(huán)境通常會(huì)觸發(fā)你的這個(gè)壞習(xí)慣??赡苓@個(gè)動(dòng)因是你的朋友請(qǐng)你喝酒。在“那么”部分,你應(yīng)列明采取哪種行動(dòng)來阻止自己接受邀請(qǐng),例如回答今天我只想喝水。然后,你就可以將“如果-那么”連接起來,制定一個(gè)“如果-那么”計(jì)劃,:“如果周五晚上我的朋友請(qǐng)我喝酒,那么我就會(huì)回答:我今天只想喝水” 。 聽起來是不是太簡單了?事實(shí)上,在同行評(píng)審的學(xué)術(shù)期刊上所刊登的眾多針對(duì)全球兒童、成年人和老年人的研究都顯示,“如果-那么”句式的計(jì)劃能顯著提高達(dá)到目標(biāo)的成功率。這一點(diǎn)在醫(yī)療、成就和人際交往領(lǐng)域非常奏效,適用于不同文化和社會(huì)背景的人,甚至適合那些通常存在自律障礙的人,如多動(dòng)癥患兒、成癮人士、患有大腦額葉功能障礙的病人。 為什么這個(gè)簡單的“如果……那么”計(jì)劃可以如此有效地改變?nèi)藗兊男袨??我們通過實(shí)驗(yàn)發(fā)現(xiàn),在遇到關(guān)鍵情景時(shí),這些計(jì)劃讓“那么”部分詳細(xì)列出的行為執(zhí)行變得更加容易。計(jì)劃實(shí)施者無需再提醒自己要改掉這個(gè)壞習(xí)慣,然后努力去做,而是會(huì)在碰到“如果”部分的重要情形之后,在不經(jīng)意間迅速、毫不費(fèi)力觸發(fā)他們事先計(jì)劃的反應(yīng)。由于“如果……那么”計(jì)劃會(huì)讓當(dāng)事人在遇到特定重要情形時(shí)啟動(dòng)計(jì)劃設(shè)定的反應(yīng),結(jié)果,當(dāng)事人在遭遇這類情形時(shí)就無需再有意識(shí)地去扮演自身行為“控制人”的角色,而是做出預(yù)先設(shè)置好、近乎自動(dòng)的回應(yīng)。 學(xué)習(xí)制作“如果……那么”計(jì)劃并不困難。人們只需找出那些觸發(fā)自身壞習(xí)慣的個(gè)人重要情形,然后甄別那些自己希望采取的行為,而不是自己的習(xí)慣性行為。筆者在紐約大學(xué)的同事加布里埃爾·奧汀根開發(fā)了一款應(yīng)用程序,名為WOOP(愿望、結(jié)果、障礙和計(jì)劃四個(gè)英文單詞的首字母縮略語)。它通過多個(gè)步驟指導(dǎo)用戶如何制定所需的“如果……那么”計(jì)劃中的“如果”部分和“那么”部分。 因此,如果你一有空就想查收電郵,但又不想沉溺于這個(gè)壞習(xí)慣,不妨列一個(gè)這樣的“如果……那么”計(jì)劃:如果今晚有空余時(shí)間,那么我就去下載WOOP應(yīng)用。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)) 譯者:馮豐 審校:夏林 |
Everyone has bad habits. Maybe you snack when you’re distressed, and drink too much when relaxing with friends. Or maybe you waste too much time on social media, and get into too unnecessary arguments with colleagues, friends, and family. To change these bad habits, friends and therapists might say you simply have to make it your goal, and down the road – if you just try hard enough – you will get rid of them. However, extensive research in the science of motivation has shown that there is a wide disparity between having the goal of controlling one’s bad habits and actually doing so. This is true for bad habits relating to all domains of life including health, work, and one’s social life. So what can you do to reduce these gaps? In my research in the U.S. and Germany on the self-regulation of goal pursuit, I discovered that people have to make plans on how to implement their goals. The most effective plans are those that specify when, where and how you want to act on your goals by using an “if-then” format. Take drinking too much in the company of your friends as an example. In the “if” part of the plan, you identify the critical situation that usually triggers your bad habit. Perhaps the trigger is being offered a drink by your friends. In the “then” part, you specify an action that can halt accepting the offer such as responding to it by saying that you prefer a glass of water today. And then you link the “if” and the “then” parts together by making an “if-then” plan: “If on Friday evening my friends offer me a drink, then I will answer: I prefer to have a glass of water today!” Sound too simple? Well, an endless line of studies published in peer-reviewed journals conducted with children, adults, and old to very old people around the world have shown that “if-then” plans significantly increase the rate of goal attainment. This is true for goals in the health, achievement and interpersonal domain, for people from different cultural and social backgrounds, and even for people who have problems with self-regulation in general (e.g., children with ADHD, people who suffer from addictions, frontal lobe patients). How can simple “if-then” plans be so effective in achieving behavior change? In laboratory experiments, we discovered that these plans make performing the behavior specified in the “then” part much easier when the critical situation is encountered. The person no longer has to tell herself that she wants to break a bad habit and then try hard to do so. Rather, encountering the critical situation specified in the “if” part triggers the pre-planned response in a fast, effortless, and incidental manner. Since the “if-then” plan delegates the initiation of the planned response to the specified critical situation, it is taken out of the hands of the person who – as a consequence – no longer has to play the role of the willful “controller” of her actions. Instead, she now makes a pre-programmed, almost automatic response. It is not difficult to learn to make good “if-then” plans. You only have to detect the personal critical situations that trigger your bad habits, and you have to identify those behaviors that you can and want to perform instead of the habitual ones. Gabriele Oettingen, a colleague at New York University, has developed an App called WOOP (Wish-Outcome-Obstacle-Plan) that guides you through a number of steps helping you to specify the “if” parts and the “then” parts of the “if-then” plans needed. So if you do not want to fall prey to your bad habit of checking emails whenever there is a free moment, just make the following “if-then” plan: If I find a moment of quiet time tonight, then I will download the WOOP App. |