The DOI matches its Crossref record; 71 of the 76 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Implementation intentions: Strong effects of simple plans.
Open accessAbstract
When people encounter problems in translating their goals into action (e.g., failing to get started, becoming distracted, or falling into bad habits), they may strategically call on automatic processes in an attempt to secure goal attain-ment. This can be achieved by plans in the form of imple-mentation intentions that link anticipated critical situations to goal-directed responses ("Whenever situation x arises, I will initiate the goal-directed response y!"). Implementa-tion intentions delegate the control of goal-directed re-sponses to anticipated situational cues, which (when actu-ally encountered) elicit these responses automatically. A program of research demonstrates that implementation intentions further the attainment of goals, and it reveals the underlying processes. Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. —Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray G ood intentions have a bad reputation. People whoform New Year's resolutions earn at best a sym-pathetic smile when they announce their heroic intentions (e.g., exercising regularly, avoiding unhealthy foods). Though the audience may concede that such reso-lutions are made with good will (Oscar Wilde is less trusting), they doubt their effectiveness. This suspicion is deeply rooted. Folklore tells us that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." Do good intentions deserve this bad reputation? As the many empirical studies based on Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior demonstrate, there is no reason to assume that good intentions have nil effects or even negative ef-fects on behavior. Quite to the contrary, strong intentions (e.g., "I strongly intend to do x") are reliably observed to be realized more often than weak intentions (see reviews by
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“This lack of variation likely reflects a shared understanding in the literature—grounded in theoretical work by Gollwitzer (1999)—that cues should be concrete and salient (see also Schaaf et al., 2025).”
From The effectiveness of implementation intentions in children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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“another common strategy is the use of “implementation intentions” (Gilbert, Gollwitzer, Cohen, Burgess, & Oettingen, 2009; Gollwitzer, 1999), where an intended thought or action is mentally linked with a specific anticipated situational cue.”
From Strategic offloading of delayed intentions into the external environment (2015) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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“Implementation intentions have been introduced as a ‘simple’ strategy that helps people translate their good intentions into action (Gollwitzer, 1999).”
From The effectiveness of implementation intentions in children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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“These findings support the idea that implementation intentions are a ‘simple’ strategy (Gollwitzer, 1999) that is especially suitable for children and capable of compensating for developmental or clinical self‐regulation deficits.”
From The effectiveness of implementation intentions in children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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“The absence of a significant decrease in effect sizes for studies with longer time intervals could suggest that implementation intentions may have lasting effects, which is consistent with the idea that they promote instant habit formation (Gollwitzer, 1999).”
From The effectiveness of implementation intentions in children: A systematic review and meta‐analysis (2026) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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“A powerful self-regulation strategy geared towards facilitating the control of specific critical goal-directed behaviors is the making of if-then plans (i.e., forming implementation intentions, Gollwitzer, 1999).”
From Implementation Intentions Facilitate Response Inhibition in Children with ADHD (2008) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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“This finding supports the assumption (Gollwitzer, 1999) that action control by implementation intentions is an efficient strategy (i.e., requires few cognitive resources).”
From Implementation Intentions Facilitate Response Inhibition in Children with ADHD (2008) · cites this paper as Gollwitzer, 1999
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Citations
Cites
The theory of planned behavior
Ajzen, I. (1991) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t · Cited by 90,587
From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior
Ajzen, I. (1985) · Action Control · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-69746-3_2 · Cited by 19,057
Higgins, E. T. (1997) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.52.12.1280 · Cited by 6,775
Social psychology: handbook of basic principles
Higgins, E., & Kruglanski, A. (2008) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.45-3496 · Cited by 5,535
The Theory of Planned Behavior
Ajzen, I. (2012) · SAGE Publications Ltd eBooks · doi:10.4135/9781446249215.n22 · Cited by 5,514
A Theory of Goal Setting and Task Performance
Tosi, H. L., Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (1991) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.2307/258875 · Cited by 4,840
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory
Bourne, L. E. (1977) · Cited by 4,328
Wyer, R. S., & Srull, T. K. (2014) · Psychology Press eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315807102 · Cited by 4,211
Tosi, H. L. (1991) · Academy of Management Review · doi:10.5465/amr.1991.4278976 · Cited by 4,147
Specific impairments of planning
Shallice, T. (1982) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.1982.0082 · Cited by 3,741
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Aarts, H., Dijksterhuis, A., & Midden, C. (in press). To plan or not to plan? Goal achievement or interrupting the performance of mundane behaviors. European Journal of Social Psychology.
- Braff, D. L., Saccuzzo, D. P., & Geyer, M. (1991). Information processing dysfunctions in schizophrenia. In S. R. Steinhauer, J. H. Gruzelier, & J. Zubin (Eds.), Handbook of schizophrenia: Neuropsychology, psycho- physiology and information processing (Vol. 5, pp. 303-334). Amster- dam: Elsevier.
- Malzacher, J. T. (1992). Erleichtern Vorsatze die Handlungsinitiierung? [Do implementation intentions facilitate the initiation of behavior?]. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ludwig-Maximilian-Universitat, Munich, Germany.
- Remlinger, J. (1997). Vorsatzeffekte bei Opiatabhdngigen [Implementa- tion intention effects in opiate addicts]. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Konstanz, Germany.
- Schmitt, S. (1997). Zur Wirkungsweise von Vorsatzeffekten bei schizo- phren Erkrankten [Implementation intention effects in schizophrenic patients]. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Konstanz, Ger- many.
- Sheeran, P., & Orbell, S. (1999). Implementation intentions and repeated behaviors: Augmenting the predictive validity of the theory of planned behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 349-370.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Nature and Operation of Attitudes
Ajzen, I. (2001) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.27 · Cited by 4,321
Individual differences in reasoning: Implications for the rationality debate?
Stanovich, K. E., & West, R. F. (2000) · Behavioral and Brain Sciences · doi:10.1017/s0140525x00003435 · Cited by 4,481
Bamberg, S., & Möser, G. (2007) · Journal of Environmental Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2006.12.002 · Cited by 4,140
Reflective and Impulsive Determinants of Social Behavior
Strack, F., & Deutsch, R. (2004) · Personality and Social Psychology Review · doi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0803_1 · Cited by 3,984
Webb, T. L., & Sheeran, P. (2006) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.249 · Cited by 3,732
Metadata
- Authors
- Gollwitzer, P. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Konstanz (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Gollwitzer, Peter M.
- ORCID
- Gollwitzer, Peter M.
- Venue
- American Psychologist
- Published
- 1999-07
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 493-503
- ISSN
- 0003-066X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-990X
- OpenAlex
- W2133044046
- Cited by
- 5,478
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2026: 228 · 2025: 195 · 2024: 214 · 2023: 313 · 2022: 248 · 2021: 284 · 2020: 404 · 2019: 288 · 2018: 301 · 2017: 284 · 2016: 281 · 2015: 270 · 2014: 279 · 2013: 252 · 2012: 238
- FWCI
- 96.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- nbn-resolving.de
- Locations
- American Psychologist (publishedVersion)
- KOPS (University of Konstanz) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universität Konstanz
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
- Keywords
- implementation intentions, goal achievement, automatic processes, goal-directed behavior, situational cues, habit formation
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