🎯 QuizPersonal development10 questions~4 min
New Year's resolutions: true or false?
"21 days to build a habit", "tell everyone your goal", "visualise your success"… A lot of advice about change circulates with no evidence behind it. Here are 10 questions, each followed by what the studies actually found.
A general-knowledge quiz for learning purposes. It does not replace the advice of a health professional if you are trying to change a behaviour that affects your health.
What this content is based on
Each answer rests on one or more published studies, listed at the bottom of the page. When findings are nuanced or limited to one context (population, sample, method), the explanation says so.
Reviewed in 2026-10
Going further: read the article : Why good resolutions fail (and what works better)
References
- Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009.
- Norcross, J. C., Mrykalo, M. S., & Blagys, M. D. (2002). Auld lang syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year's resolvers and nonresolvers. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(4), 397–405. DOI PubMed
- Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119.
- Gollwitzer, P. M., Sheeran, P., Michalski, V., & Seifert, A. E. (2009). When intentions go public: Does social reality widen the intention-behavior gap? Psychological Science, 20(5), 612–618. DOI PubMed
- Breines, J. G., & Chen, S. (2012). Self-compassion increases self-improvement motivation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(9), 1133–1143. DOI PubMed
- Oettingen, G., & Mayer, D. (2002). The motivating function of thinking about the future: Expectations versus fantasies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(5), 1198–1212. PubMed
- Cuijpers, P., van Straten, A., & Warmerdam, L. (2007). Behavioral activation treatments of depression: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 27(3), 318–326. DOI PubMed
- Wood, W., Quinn, J. M., & Kashy, D. A. (2002). Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297. PubMed
- Dai, H., Milkman, K. L., & Riis, J. (2014). The fresh start effect: Temporal landmarks motivate aspirational behavior. Management Science, 60(10), 2563–2582.
References checked via PubMed (National Library of Medicine). DOI links lead to the original publications.