Episode 17: Resolutions

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: This Hidden Brain episode examines why New Year’s resolutions fail and how psychology can improve follow-through. Using research on temporal landmarks, self-distancing, food purchases, intrinsic motivation, and pre-commitment, the show offers practical tactics for behavior change while following staffer Max Nestrak’s attempt to quit smoking as a real-world test case.

Main Topics: Why people make New Year’s resolutions (Priority: 5/5): Shankar Vedantam explains that resolutions are tied to temporal landmarks—New Year’s Day, birthdays, new months, and holidays—which function as psychological fresh starts and a form of mental accounting. Why resolutions fail (Priority: 5/5): The episode argues that people overestimate how different their future selves will be from their current selves. This optimism bias makes goals feel more achievable than they really are, leading to disappointment and relapse. Research-based tactics to stick to goals (Priority: 4/5): Dan Pink presents studies showing that self-talk using second- or third-person pronouns can reduce anxiety, and that distancing oneself psychologically can improve performance in stressful situations. Healthy eating and substitution failure (Priority: 4/5): Cornell research shows that while people buy more healthy food after New Year’s Day, they do not reduce purchases of unhealthy food, meaning resolutions often add good habits without removing bad ones. Motivation and internal reasons (Priority: 4/5): A West Point study finds that people driven by intrinsic motives—such as serving the country—perform better than those with instrumental motives like résumé-building, suggesting the reason behind a goal matters. Pre-commitment as a behavior-change tool (Priority: 4/5): The episode discusses commitment devices, including a savings account that donates money to a disliked cause if smokers relapse, as a way to create consequences that support self-control. Max Nestrak’s smoking cessation experiment (Priority: 5/5): Hidden Brain applies these ideas to staffer Max Nestrak, who records an audio diary and completes assignments designed to help him quit smoking and stay accountable.

Key Arguments: Resolutions are often triggered by temporal landmarks that make people feel a reset is possible, but the same bias can make them overconfident about change. People tend to judge their past selves harshly and imagine their future selves as transformed, which creates a gap between intentions and behavior. Changing self-talk from first person to second or third person creates psychological distance and can improve performance under stress. Successful habit change requires not only adding healthy behaviors but also actively reducing unhealthy ones. Intrinsic motivation is more durable than instrumental motivation; doing something for the right reason predicts better performance and persistence. Commitment devices can help people follow through by attaching meaningful penalties to failure. Behavior change works best when interventions are concrete, automatic, and tied to real consequences rather than vague intention.

Data Points: New Year resolution timing: Start of year, plus birthdays, new months, new weeks, federal holidays - Described as temporal landmarks that prompt people to re-evaluate themselves and set goals Smoking diary timeline: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 5, Day 8, Day 12 - Max Nestrak documents his early experience quitting smoking Resolution commitment period: 2016 - The episode centers on New Year’s resolutions at the start of 2016 West Point study duration: 9 years - Researchers studied cadets over nine years to compare intrinsic and instrumental motives Retention/commitment device outcome: Slightly more likely to stick - Smokers using a money-deposit pre-commitment were somewhat more likely to maintain abstinence Public-service announcement call-in number: 661-772-724 / 661-77-BRAIN - Listeners are invited to share quitting advice and success stories Health behavior window: Between Thanksgiving and Christmas - Cornell study found unhealthy food purchasing rose during the holiday period

Pivotal Quotes: "I used to be a chump, but now I'm a champ." — Shankar Vedantam: Explaining how people view their past selves as inferior during discussions of resolution psychology "Why do you feel this way?" — Dan Pink: Example of second-person self-talk shown to reduce anxiety and increase distance from stress "The thing is, death is too abstract." — Max Nestrak: Max’s reflection on why smoking warnings often fail to motivate quitting despite real health risks

Implications: Listeners should treat goals as systems, not wishes: use automatic changes, remove bad habits, rely on intrinsic motives, and add commitment devices. For media and health communicators, specific, immediate consequences may work better than distant warnings.