So just how successful are New Year’s resolutions? According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, the tradition dates back more than 4,000 years. However, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology states: One report of as few as 9 percent of U.S. people achieve their goals by year’s end. Though a few researchers, who in recent times conducted studies on the subject, have discovered more optimistic outcomes. Those who achieve their goals often do so by (1. Understanding their strengths, (2. Recognizing where they need some extra support, and (3. Putting in place the things they need to supply that extra backing.
In 1985 (a paper in 1989), Dr. John C. Norcross (a University of Scranton distinguished professor of psychology) discovered that a surprisingly high number of individuals, in a 200-volunteer study, followed their goals for at least six months/expectations from the study were 10% to 25%. The real number turned out to be 40%. Our pioneering psychologist comments on the subject in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)) January 2023 edition. He explains, “These goals are more likely to drive significant change when they are realistic, specific, and oriented toward accomplishing something good instead of accomplishing something bad.” In 1995, he ran another experiment of 159 randomly chosen subjects. Once again and following them for six months, 40% of those with definite resolutions were successful, while only 4% with no formal resolutions established behavioral changes.
Per Carlbring, a professor of clinical psychology at Stockholm University tracked more than 1,000 people over the course of 2017. He wanted to see if resolutions were as bad as their reputation at being kept. His collaborators discovered something very practical: “How New Year’s resolutions were framed helped determine how effective they were.” In other words, this finding emphasized the positive approach as opposing the negative approach. For instance, when giving up certain high-calorie foods to gain a positive weight loss, approach another positive activity such as reading a book. Blake Hallinan, Hebrew University’s senior lecturer and lead author of a 2021 paper, based his subject matter on 160,000 tweets. He chose his subject matter of “New Year’s resolutions concerning cultural differences” due to a lack of research on the subject.
It does appear that most New Year’s Resolutions are only temporary. WSJ states, in another report, that the 40% of successful changes after six months, fell to 19% after two years.
***This figure, however, does prove one in five people who still were able to manage changed behavior for the better during this calendar time. One more Everyday Health study on positive adherence to resolutions states “that people who were more successful tended to be more mentally ready to start that change, and were more confident in their ability to make progress toward their goal and continue to do so.”
Dr. Sandhira Wijayaratne, a psychiatrist for Everyday Health, says that, “having supportive relationships, environments, and interpersonal systems (such as people holding you accountable to your goals) was associated with resolution maintenance at the two-year mark. In other words, setting up the community and space around you toward reaching a resolution leads to better success than going it alone.”
