← all facts
mere measurement effect
Asking if you will do a task makes it likelier.
A 1993 study showed that simply surveying people about their intention to perform a future behavior increases the likelihood they will do it.
Researchers observed that participants who were asked whether they intended to purchase a product or engage in a task were more likely to follow through than a control group that was not asked. The act of stating an intention forces the brain to simulate the activity, making it feel more attainable.
You influence your own future actions by vocalizing them to yourself.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Vicki Morwitz, 1993, Journal of Consumer Research
- What the check found
- Vicki Morwitz's 1993 JCR article 'Does Measuring Intent Change Behavior?' is a seminal paper on this topic, confirming the core claim that measuring intention can alter subsequent behavior.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.