Science reveals best excuse to tell ourselves for abandoning New Year’s resolutions
Even just once in their lives, most people will make New Year’s resolutions that mainly concern fitness, finances or health. It also comes as no surprise then that studies and surveys show the majority will abandon them soon after. Exercising self-control is really hard. However, new research published in the ‘European Journal of Social Psychology’(opens in new window) suggests we don’t need to blame ourselves. We can still fail at New Year’s resolutions or other commitments and maintain the respect of others by blaming external factors, such as lack of money.
Blame money problems, not time constraints
“Many resolutions or commitments involve either time or money so the lack of one or the other seems to provide a good excuse for breaking it without adversely affecting how others see us,” explained author Dr Janina Steinmetz of City University of London in a news release(opens in new window). “However, these two excuses are not equally effective. My six experiments involving around 1,200 people found that pleading a lack of money leads to better outcomes – in terms of perceptions about the individual – than citing lack of time.” For example, one experiment involved 200 online volunteers who read about people failing to keep a commitment to make healthy food choices. The first group blamed the failed resolutions on the cost of cooking nutritious meals, while the second on a lack of time. Participants perceived the former as having greater self-control. The distinctions between excuses based on time and on money seem to indicate how much the excuse is viewed as being within the person’s control. “These results are surprising because people like to use lack of time as an excuse when they can’t do something,” added Dr Steinmetz. “They equate lack of time with high status. However, the studies suggest we tend to think others could find the time to exercise or cook healthy meals if they were sufficiently motivated. That is why citing factors many of us have less control over, such as lack of money, can produce perceptions of having better self-control even when we abandon our New Year’s resolution or break a commitment.”
Getting to the bottom of resolutions
Gerhard Andersson, professor of clinical psychology at Sweden’s Linköping University, plans to research how we can keep our promises. The study will involve around 2 000 volunteers divided into four groups that will each try a different technique. A previous study with 1 000 participants showed that about half had still kept their promises after a year. Resolutions have the potential to be transformative, and possibly signal a new beginning. “New year’s resolutions could possibly have the same impact as following a treatment programme or similar,” Prof. Andersson commented in a news item(opens in new window). “That makes it more than just something you do for fun.”