Do you feel you've crossed an imaginary barrier at 12:00 AM of January 1st? Research shows that most people do. Why do we make new year's resolutions? Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania asked this same question. Their conclusion was resolutions are a from of what they call "mental accounting." Research shows Google searches for the word "diet" go up drastically at the start of a new year. Why don't resolutions stick? We see our present selves as superior to our past selves and there lays the problem. If you think that the "new and improved you" will eat right and supersize everyday, you are setting yourself up for failure. If you are really the same person that you used to be, your resolution is likely to fail.
When it comes to addressing the problems, the first that can help is making changes that work automatically. Another is taking advantage of smaller check points like new months or birthdays.
Read the full story here.
Questions:
Do you make resolutions that are obtainable? What are they?
What do you think is meant by the term "mental accounting"?
My Opinion: I have never made a resolution that I can remember that has had a lasting impression on my everyday life. I think what the researchers mean by mental accounting is a way for us to stay on track. We always have things that we think about doing but never do and with the start of a new year, many people take it as an opportunity to put themselves on the right track.
Replies
Again, great job overall but all of your comments were done on the 11th.
I don't think I've ever made a resolution because I know I'm never going to meet my goal I'm reaching for. They mean that it's a way for us to keep track of our resolution.
I don't make resolutions. I know that I will only stick with it for a short while, then give up on it. I think what they mean by mental accounting is keeping track of yourself on track.
I don't really make New Year's Resolutions because I would not be motivated enough to actually get them done. I think mental accounting is keeping track of things in your life that would make you a better person or better your life.
I think you are like the majority of the people that don't make resolutions. You know yourself well enough to know that you can't change your routine.
I don't make New Year's Resolution. I would never follow through with it and I don't think that a lot of people do. If they do and it helps them as a person, great! But I think a lot of people try it out and eventually go back to their old lifestyle. People that follow through with it have a lot of perseverance and determination to live a better life.
I don't make resolutions at the beginning of each year, because I never seem to push through with them, but it's nothing that can't be obtained. I think what they mean by "mental accounting" is you take into account what you need to fix in your life and to do something about it with your "New Year's Resolutions".
New Year's sure seems like the time to put your mental accounting into action. It symbolizes for many, a time that we can reinvent ourselves.
No because when I do I break it so what is the point, To keep us on track but sometimes I don't think it helps very much
Sometimes mental accounting probably doesn't help that much, especially if you are someone who tends to not follow through with things.
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