None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Mental contrasting with implementation intentions is a self-regulation strategy that facilitates goal pursuit. It does so by imagining our future self where we achieve the goal that we want to achieve and comparing that image to our present self to identify the obstacles that stand in between those two selves. Previous research has found that mentally contrasting our future and present selves energises us towards reducing that discrepancy. In this study, we argue that MCII can be more beneficial if used daily, compared to single-time training (as how it is done mostly in previous research). To test this hypothesis, we will ask one group of participants to do the MCII training daily for seven days and the other group of participants to do it once at the beginning of the study. We will compare the two groups in how much they reduce their bedtime procrastination levels. Furthermore, we will assess factors like goal motivation and its interplay with the MCII training.
Interventions
Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII; Oettingen, 2012).
MCII is an effective strategy for facilitating self-regulation of goal pursuit for various health goals, including unhealthy snacking (Adriaanse et al., 2010), smoking (Mutter et al., 2020), and bedtime procrastination (Valshtein et al., 2020). Importantly, MCII is a promising strategy that is easy-to-apply and cost-effective. However, most of the empirical evidence comes from designs which consist of single training of
Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII; Oettingen, 2012). MCII is an effective strategy for facilitating self-regulation of goal pursuit for various health goals, including unhealthy snacking (Adriaanse et al., 2010), smoking (Mutter et al., 2020), and bedtime procrastination (Valshtein et al., 2020). Importantly, MCII is a promising strategy that is easy-to-apply and cost-effective. However, most of the empirical evidence comes from designs which consist of single training of MCII at the beginning of a study, even though preliminary findings suggest MCII can be more beneficial if adapted for daily use (Marquardt et al. 2017). The goal of this trial is to compare the effectiveness of daily MCII training (experimental group) to single MCII training (comparator group) on bedtime procrastination. MCII training is completed in four steps. Because this study is concerned about bedtime procrastination, participants will first state their sleep-related goal (e.g., “I will go to sleep at 10 p.m.”). Second, they will imagine achieving this goal in the form a future self and explore the most positive outcomes associated with it (e.g., feeling rested next day). Third, they will engage in mentally contrasting this positive vision with the current reality to identify the obstacles that stand between them and their goal (i.e., desire to watch TV series instead of going to sleep on time). Fourth, participants will develop implementation intentions (i.e., if-then plans) by specifying precise plans for how they will act if faced with the temptation to engage in their current activity (e.g., "if it is 10 p.m., then I will start getting ready for going to sleep”). We will provide participants in both groups with written instructions that explain the MCII training step by step. The instructions are supported with examples to facilitate the training for the participants. The instructions followed the guidelines provided by Oettingen (https://woopmylife.org) and applied in our previous research (Riddell et al., 2022). As participants will be doing the training themselves, we have made these instructions as clear and understandable as possible. The data collection will take place online, so the participants will be doing the training individually over the internet in their personal spaces. The groups will only differ in the number of times they complete the MCII training. The intervention group will be doing all four steps of the training daily for seven days. The comparator group will only do the training once at the beginning of the study. We will monitor participants’ adherence to the intervention by checking how many days of the week a participant completed the MCII training with the built-in analytics of Qualtrics. The MCII training takes around 5-10 minutes to complete and requires no special equipment or device. Adriaanse, M. A., Oettingen, G., Gollwitzer, P. M., Hennes, E. P., De Ridder, D. T. D., & De Wit, J. B. F. (2010). When planning is not enough: Fighting unhealthy snacking habits by mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII). European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(7), 1277–1293. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.730 Marquardt, M. K., Oettingen, G., Gollwitzer, P. M., Sheeran, P., & Liepert, J. (2017). Mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCII) improves physical activity and weight loss among stroke survivors over one year. Rehabilitation Psychology, 62(4), 580–590. https://doi.org/10.1037/rep0000104 Mutter, E. R., Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2020). An online randomised controlled trial of mental contrasting with implementation intentions as a smoking behaviour change intervention. Psychology & Health, 35(3), 318–345. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2019.1634200 Oettingen, G. (2012). Future thought and behaviour change. European Review of Social Psychology, 23(1), 1-63. https://doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2011.643698 Riddell, H., Sedikides, C., Gucciardi, D. F., Ben, J., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., & Ntoumanis, N. (2022). Goal motives and mental contrasting with implementation intentions facilitate strategic goal persistence and disengagement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 52(11), 1094–1116. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12915 Valshtein, T. J., Oettingen, G., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2020). Using mental contrasting with implementation intentions to reduce bedtime procrastination: two randomised trials. Psychology & Health, 35(3), 275-301. https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2019.1652753
Sponsors
Prof. Daniel Gucciardi
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used) (Subject, Caregiver)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Participants will be recruited via the online recruitment platform Prolific and be selected from the general public in the UK. They will only be eligible if they are 18 or older. Finally, they must have the intention of improving their sleep health in order to be included in the study.
Exclusion criteria
1)individuals who report a sleep condition affecting their sleep (e.g., insomnia), 2) those employed in shift work, 3) individuals taking medication that impacts sleep (e.g., beta-blockers), 4) those responsible for overnight care of dependents (e.g., children under 3 years old or the elderly). Further, we will exclude participants from the dataset who do not provide diary data for more than two days.
Outcome results
None listed