Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap.
The intention-behavior gap is a common phenomenon where people fail to follow through on their intentions to change their behavior and pursue their future goals. Previous research has shown that people are more likely to act in favor of their future selves when they feel similar/connected to their f...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2024-01-01
|
| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0305815&type=printable |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850186778607091712 |
|---|---|
| author | Benjamin Ganschow Sven Zebel Jean-Louis van Gelder Liza J M Cornet |
| author_facet | Benjamin Ganschow Sven Zebel Jean-Louis van Gelder Liza J M Cornet |
| author_sort | Benjamin Ganschow |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The intention-behavior gap is a common phenomenon where people fail to follow through on their intentions to change their behavior and pursue their future goals. Previous research has shown that people are more likely to act in favor of their future selves when they feel similar/connected to their future self and can vividly describe them. This study compared an imagination exercise with an integrated imagination and exposure exercise using virtual reality (VR) to embody age-morphed future selves to an imagination only exercise. We expected that strengthening the similarity/connectedness and the vividness of the future self would reduce the intention-behavior gap, and exposure to the future self would have the greatest effect. Surprisingly, the results showed that strengthening connectedness reduced the intention-behavior gap, but strengthening similarity increased the gap. Additionally, the exercises were equally effective in reducing the intention-behavior gap. These findings suggest that both feeling connected to and recognizing dissimilarity to one's future self play different roles in future-oriented behavior change. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-966fa38b4d0148269a8fa0eab1ff6a90 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj-art-966fa38b4d0148269a8fa0eab1ff6a902025-08-20T02:16:15ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032024-01-01197e030581510.1371/journal.pone.0305815Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap.Benjamin GanschowSven ZebelJean-Louis van GelderLiza J M CornetThe intention-behavior gap is a common phenomenon where people fail to follow through on their intentions to change their behavior and pursue their future goals. Previous research has shown that people are more likely to act in favor of their future selves when they feel similar/connected to their future self and can vividly describe them. This study compared an imagination exercise with an integrated imagination and exposure exercise using virtual reality (VR) to embody age-morphed future selves to an imagination only exercise. We expected that strengthening the similarity/connectedness and the vividness of the future self would reduce the intention-behavior gap, and exposure to the future self would have the greatest effect. Surprisingly, the results showed that strengthening connectedness reduced the intention-behavior gap, but strengthening similarity increased the gap. Additionally, the exercises were equally effective in reducing the intention-behavior gap. These findings suggest that both feeling connected to and recognizing dissimilarity to one's future self play different roles in future-oriented behavior change.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0305815&type=printable |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin Ganschow Sven Zebel Jean-Louis van Gelder Liza J M Cornet Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap. PLoS ONE |
| title | Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap. |
| title_full | Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap. |
| title_fullStr | Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap. |
| title_short | Feeling connected but dissimilar to one's future self reduces the intention-behavior gap. |
| title_sort | feeling connected but dissimilar to one s future self reduces the intention behavior gap |
| url | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0305815&type=printable |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT benjaminganschow feelingconnectedbutdissimilartoonesfutureselfreducestheintentionbehaviorgap AT svenzebel feelingconnectedbutdissimilartoonesfutureselfreducestheintentionbehaviorgap AT jeanlouisvangelder feelingconnectedbutdissimilartoonesfutureselfreducestheintentionbehaviorgap AT lizajmcornet feelingconnectedbutdissimilartoonesfutureselfreducestheintentionbehaviorgap |