Boosting scholastic test scores by willpower: The role of implementation intentions

By Ute C. Bayer, Peter M. Gollwitzer. 2007

96 citations recorded by the source corpus.

As both high self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura, 1997) and forming implementation intentions (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2006) are known to improve goal attainment, it is suggested that implementation intentions geared at strengthening self-efficacy should be a very helpful self-regulation strategy to achieve high scholastic test scores. In Study 1, female participants had to perform a math test either with the goal intention of solving as many problems as possible or with an additional self-efficacy strengthening implementation intention. In Study 2, male participants worked on an analytic reasoning test under either a mere achievement goal intention, an additional self-efficacy strengthening implementation intention, or an additional self-efficacy strengthening goal intention. In both studies, participants with self-efficacy strengthening implementation intentions outperformed the mere achievement goal intention participants. Moreover, Study 2 showed that additional self-efficacy strengthening goal intentions were not as effective as additional self-efficacy strengthening implementation intentions. The results are discussed in terms of their contribution to research on both self-efficacy and implementation intentions.

Subfields: Applied Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c6d27e3eb478fe81ec759ebfb0cb68503c5392c1

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Citations in the corpus

Responding to subliminal cues: Do if-then plans facilitate action preparation and initiation without conscious intent? (2009, background): “…by action control problems (Brandstätter, Lengfelder, & Gollwitzer, 2001, Studies 1 and 2; Gawrilow & Gollwitzer, 2008), dual task paradigms (Brandstätter et al., 2001, Studies 3 and 4), and tasks that burden a person's cognitive capacity (e.g., intelligence tests; Bayer & Gollwitzer, 2007).”
Planning promotes goal striving. (2011, background): “Using the Raven Intelligence Test, Bayer and Gollwitzer (2007, Study 2) found that performance on the test improved only when participants were instructed to form self-efficacy-strengthening implementation intentions; self-efficacy-enhancing goal intentions did not work.”
Effective regulation of affect: An action control perspective on emotion regulation (2012, background): “…in enhancing self-efficacy, improving the selection of behavioural strategies, and promoting flexible strategy use in relation to changing circumstances (e.g., Bayer & Gollwitzer, 2007; Henderson, Gollwitzer, & Oettingen, 2007; for a review, see Gollwitzer, Parks-Stamm, Jaudas, & Sheeran, 2008).”
Self-efficacy Feelings Moderate Implementation Intention Effects (2010, background): “In a recent study by Bayer and Gollwitzer (2007), specifying a self-efficacy assuring inner speech in an implementation intention (‘‘And if I start a new item, then I’ll tell myself: I can solve it!’’) also improved Raven test performance relative to mere goal intentions.”
Weakness of the will: Is a quick fix possible? (2014, background): “As to situations where knowledge and skills constrain performance, simple implementation intentions were found to enhance participants’ performance on a standardized intelligence test (Bayer and Gollwitzer 2007).”
Too Much of a Good Thing: The Benefits of Implementation Intentions Depend on the Number of Goals (2012, background): “Implemental planning has proven useful for goals ranging from exercising (Prestwich, Lawton, and Conner 2003) and smoking cessation (Armitage and Arden 2008), to recycling (Holland, Aarts, and Langendam 2006) and academic achievement (Bayer and Gollwitzer 2007).”