A Resolution to Change.....with Others

 

It's hard to do things alone. It's hard to reach up high and keep from falling if no one is supporting you. It's hard to make a change if you feel like you're the only one doing it.

People make goals all the time but it's hard to make them stick. New Year's resolutions are a classic example of a time when lots of people want to change their own behavior, and even express great commitment to making it happen. However, these resolutions are notoriously difficult to keep. Using our evaluation metrics, they might be speedy changes, but they are more likely to be particularistic and less likely to be reliable, generalizable, and durable. I know every year I tell myself I'm going to eat more vegetables and floss daily, but while I do it for about a week (speed of change) it has never been durable. Furthermore, any intervention for achieving these goals would not work for everyone (particularistic) and would not help people other than me accomplish the behavior (reliable and generalizable).

New Year's is interesting because it is one of the only occasions when setting a goal for individual behavior change is a cultural tradition that is widespread across society. But this widespread goal-setting phenomenon, while well-meaning, is often ineffective because everyone is pursuing their own separate goal independently. Even the social norm of New Year's resolutions often does not actually help individuals adhere to their plans unless the plans themselves include other people. If people don't have the discipline by themselves, they likely will not maintain their shiny new behavior even if they know how good it is for them.

So, at the start of the new year, gyms start all kinds of work-out classes and deals, people join Weight Watchers, join book clubs, etc. These kinds of clubs and groups help to reinforce individual intentions and translate them into goals with the help of added knowledge, motivation, and support. 

Other powerful examples include support groups and breaking from addictions with groups such as AA. People band together to share each other's needs and reinforce each other's progress. The bottom line is that to get through something difficult, in this case any durable behavior change, people need or would at least benefit from support. In the case of urgent emergencies or critical situations, such as a medical condition or natural disaster, it seems that people more inherently understand the need for a support system. However, the energy and water conservation eco-team articles we read for class and examples like exercise groups prove that even less urgent-seeming behaviors and a desire for long term change can benefit greatly from a team-based approach. The phrase "it takes a village" might really be true in order to get lots of people to change lots of behaviors into an energy descent future.