Health behavior change by self-regulation of goal pursuit: Mental contrasting with implementation intentions

This chapter argues that even when people are highly motivated to change their behavior, they need self-regulation tools to translate motivation into action. It discusses mental contrasting and forming implementation intentions of these tools, how effective they are in achieving behavior change, and the psychological mechanisms on which these effects are based. The chapter discusses two self-regulation strategies of goal pursuit: mental contrasting (MC) and forming implementation intentions. It begins with MC which is a self-regulation tool that allows people to identify the most desired futures and at the same time to anticipate the obstacles standing in the way of realizing these futures. Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) is a self-regulation tool that combines two effective self-regulation strategies. By mentally contrasting the desired future with the present reality, people identify what stands in the way of goal attainment. That the combination of mental contrasting and implementation intentions allows people to arrive at autonomously created personally relevant if-then plans.