Individual differences in if-then planning: Insights from the development and application of the If-Then Planning Scale (ITPS)

Abstract

Making if-then plans (or forming implementation intentions) is a self-regulation strategy that helps people attain their goals in a variety of domains. This observation is based on more than 25 years of experimental research demonstrating increased rates of goal attainment among individuals prompted to make if-then plans compared to individuals without such a prompt. A question that has so far not been addressed, however, is whether there are individual differences in if-then planning across specific goals. To address this question, we developed and validated the If-Then Planning Scale (ITPS) in four independent studies with more than 2,600 participants. The ITPS is conceptually grounded in implementation intention theory, measuring whether individuals identify critical situations (if-part) and plan goal-directed behaviors (then-part) in terms of opportunities and obstacles to achieving their goals. We used exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to establish the psychometric qualities of the ITPS in Studies 1 and 2. In Study 3, we demonstrated the convergent and discriminant validity of the ITPS against a battery of other instruments. Applying the ITPS, we showed that if-then planning is associated with the attainment of environmental goals (Studies 1 and 2), socioeconomic status (Studies 1 to 3), and academic achievement in school (Study 4). Our results provide novel evidence for individual differences in if-then planning, establish the ITPS as an efficient and reliable measure of these differences, and demonstrate that if-then planning as measured by the ITPS is systematically associated with goal attainment.

If-then planning

“…It is conceivable that people attribute failure to attain the goal more strongly to themselves than to other factors like the (easier) task at hand and such failure might accordingly produce more psychological discomfort among individuals who furnished their goal with implementation intentions. This reasoning is in line with research showing that people with a disposition to engage in if-then planning tend to feel uncomfortable when failing to make progress towards their goals (Bieleke & Keller, 2020). We hasten to add, however, that this serves as an illustration for how motivational intensity theory could fruitfully guide future research on implementation intentions beyond the issue of flexibility and tenacity rather than as a definite answer on how goals and plans affect emotional responses to failure.…”

“…Whether such a general propensity to make if-then plans indeed exists, however, is subject of ongoing research. Specifically, questionnaires begin to emerge that allow to measure planning as a broader facet of conscientiousness (e.g., the planfulness scale; Ludwig et al, 2019) as well as inclinations to engage in if-then planning as a specific self-regulation strategy (e.g., the if-then planning scale, Bieleke & Keller, 2020). Results so far indicate a small-to-medium correlation between conscientiousness and the inclination to use if-then plans as a selfregulation strategy (e.g., r = .36; Bieleke & Keller, 2020).…”

“…Specifically, questionnaires begin to emerge that allow to measure planning as a broader facet of conscientiousness (e.g., the planfulness scale; Ludwig et al, 2019) as well as inclinations to engage in if-then planning as a specific self-regulation strategy (e.g., the if-then planning scale, Bieleke & Keller, 2020). Results so far indicate a small-to-medium correlation between conscientiousness and the inclination to use if-then plans as a selfregulation strategy (e.g., r = .36; Bieleke & Keller, 2020). As such, research on individual differences in if-then planning forms the basis for more powerful tests of implementation intention interventions by considering pre-existing individual differences as potential moderators of their effects on behaviour.…”

Too bored for sports? Adaptive and less-adaptive latent personality profiles for exercise behavior

“…If-then planning was assessed with the 8 items (e.g., "I plan how best to achieve my goals") of the If-Then Planning Scale (ITPS; Bieleke & Keller, 2020). Answers ranged from "does not apply at all" to "does fully apply" on a 7-point Likert-type scale, with high values reflecting higher propensity for engaging in if-then planning.…”

“…Importantly, individuals differ in their propensity to use if-then planning as a self-control strategy in everyday life (Bieleke & Keller, 2020). Thus, in addition to being a intervention that has frequently been employed in physical activity (for a meta-analysis, please see Bélanger-Gravel et al, 2013) and exercise research (for a review, please see Bieleke, Wolff, Englert, & Gollwitzer, 2020), if-then planning can also be understood as a relatively stable generalized behavioral tendency that individuals employ habitually (Bieleke & Keller, 2020). Thus, it is conceivable that, by lowering the costs of self-control, not only trait self-control, but also trait ifthen planning is conducive to health behavior.…”