Situational Cues in Thoughts About the Future: Relationships With Self-Reported and Actual Self-Regulation Success

Abstract

Based on stimulus-response learning accounts, we argue that including situational cues in thought about intended actions is an important aspect of self-regulation success in general and in successfully implementing delayed intentions. Accordingly, in Study 1 (N = 328) we replicate a previous study and show a positive relationship between the self-reported inclusion of situational cues in thoughts about intended actions and beliefs of self-regulation success. In Study 2 (N = 136) we find a similar tendency when measuring self-regulation success with an assigned task to be completed within one week. Our results fit with if-then planning perspectives on how to facilitate novel behavior and recent perspectives that attribute self-regulation success to beneficial habits.