Success Rates for Keeping New Year’s Resolutions
According to a 2007 study conducted by Quirkilogy, only 12% of those achieved their goal.
Why is this number so low? Resolution Velcro’s experience and methodology tell us it’s goal selection, emotional state, goal selection and accountability or support that account for the high failure rate is keeping New Year’s resolutions.
Here’s Quirkilogy’s take on making New Years resolutions stick:
Men were significantly more likely to succeed when asked to engage in either goal setting (e.g., instead of trying to lose weight in general, aiming to lose a pound each week), or focusing on the rewards associated with achieving their goal (e.g., being more attractive to the opposite sex).
Women were more successful when they told their friends and family about their resolution, or were encouraged to be especially resilient and not to give up because they had reverted to the old habits (e.g., if dieting, treating a chocolate binge as a temporary setback rather than as failure).
These simple differences often had surprisingly large effects. An extra 22% of men achieved their resolution when they engaged in goal setting, and women were almost 10% more likely to be successful when encouraged to persist in the face of setbacks.
Men may be more likely to adopt a macho attitude and have unrealistic expectations, and so simple goal setting helps them achieve more. Likewise, women might be reluctant to tell others about their resolutions, and so benefit more from the social support provided by friends and family once they have made their goals public.
Here is how they designed the New Year’s Resolution study:
Throughout 2007, Quirkology tracked over 3,000 people attempting to achieve a range of resolutions, including losing weight, visiting the gym, quitting smoking, and drinking less.
At the start of the study, 52% of participants were confident of success. One year later, only 12% actually achieved their goal.
During the experiment, people were randomly placed into one of several groups, and asked to follow different advice.
