The Psychology of the New Year’s Resolutions
What are your resolutions?
The New Year is approaching and maybe like many other hundred of thousands of people you have certain goals set for the following year. In case you did not know, more than 70 percent of the people who have New Year’s Resolutions wish to lose weight in the year to come, yet the majority of them fail at doing so. It has been discovered that only 12 percent of the people who have New Year’s resolutions are able to accomplish them.
Richard Wiseman, who is a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, said that the reason why many of the people fail is because their desired have a negative meaning. For example they often say that they want to stop eating junk food, or sweets, and so on, and the brain processes that as a loss. They could wish instead to have more exercise, and the brain will be much more satisfied with that choice. Most of the specialists have reached to the conclusion that it is way easier to stick to a fitness routine which fits your personality. As you might know, there are five different components of personality: conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, neuroticism and openness to experience. This does not mean that a person can be described only by one personality, but it means that each of the Big Five might form a certain part of one’s personality. Dr. George Sik of eras ltd in Norfolk, United Kingdom said that we posses each of these traits, and that they all work together. For example some people are mostly extrovert, some are mostly introvert, and some are somewhere in between, and so on.
There are cases when someone has completely opposite traits, but there is a fitness program designed for all of them. A conscientious person is one who does everything what he planned to do. He will be thereon time, he will never miss an appointment, and he will follow the rules, and so on. Martin Hagger, who is a research psychologist at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, stated that the highly conscientious people tend to be more serious when it comes to working out, as they do not miss the workout sessions very often. Since they like to engage in fitness activities, for them the most suitable ones would be weightlifting and running on the treadmill. It is way better for them to do solo exercises, as they might go more often to the gym than the other people. They will be able to do these activities without having to rely on others, and without worrying about the state of the weather. It is very common for these people to exercise in order to gain health, and to follow the advices which they received from the doctors.
The more impulsive people are not as dedicated as the conscientious ones. They need to make plans regarding the things which they are about to do, and to take notes about what they did. Wiseman said that for these people it is much better to make small plans when it comes to their desires for the New Year. He said that instead of wanting to run in a marathon in the following year, they should desire to be able to run with one mile more each time they run. Hagger said that the best exercises for the impulsive people are the ones which are entertaining and which can keep one engaged, such as sprinting, basketball, or even contact sports. The people who are extroverts and who enjoy being in the company of the others very much have very high chances of enjoying team activities and team sports such as soccer, baseball, and so on. Hager said that if these sports become too aggressive, or if the competition becomes too heated, than the extrovert people will not enjoy them, and they will stop playing them. The introverted people are more likely to enjoy such sports as golf, and even weightlifting, as they do not have too talk with the other people too much.
The neurotic people, or the ones who worry too much, and who are constantly stressed out for whatever reasons, engage in physical exercises in order to lose weight, and in order to deal with the stress. For them, exercising can be really helpful when it comes to managing the stress, and when they can not do it, they become very sensitive. The people with openness for experience like to engage in new activities very often. They like to try as many new things as possible, but they mostly enjoy the outdoor activities such as running, walking, cycling, and so on. Just like the neurotic people, these people are more likely to exercise in order to manage their feelings and to calm themselves down. Even if they do not suffer from anxiety as the neurotic people do, they can become stressed because of the way in which they live. Hagger said that the majority of the people have mixed personality traits. For example an introvert can be conscientious as well, and in that case, he might enjoy going to the gym. A conscientious extrovert will be able to play team sports even if they are kind of aggressive. Hagger said that in most of the cases the people will make a commitment, and in the next few weeks they will abandon their commitment.
There are some ways in which you can increase your chances of sticking to your New Year’s resolution.
