People
“Precommitment involves taking steps now to prevent our future self from gaining access to temptations”
Molly Crockett
What’s your background? I’m a neuroscientist based at University College London (UCL) and Oxford University, with a particular interest in the fi eld of decision-making, especially where that involves some sort of dilemma or trade-off. That could be to do with self-control – short- versus long-term self-interest – or social decision-making, where you’re weighing up your own interests against those of other people. As part of that, I’m interested in the
concept of precommitment as a tool to help enforce the decisions we make.
What is precommitment? Most of us struggle with self-control, whether it’s over-eating, drinking too much, over-spending. We’ll often say we’re going to start exercising more often, eating more healthily, spending more wisely, working more effectively… but when the time comes we always fi nd an excuse to back out of our plans.
So how can we achieve today the goals we set for ourselves yesterday? Willpower is one weapon at our disposal, but this isn’t bulletproof – it can falter when we’re tired or stressed and can be worn down over time. Step forward precommitment, which
involves taking steps now to protect our future self from temptation. Used well, it will mean we never need to resort to willpower. For example, if I have a writing deadline, I fi nd an internet-free zone so I can’t be distracted by email and Twitter. If I know I’ll eat any chocolate in my house within 24 hours of bringing it home, I simply don’t buy it in the fi rst place. It’s about curating our surroundings to stop temptation derailing our long-term goals.
Has precommitment been scientifi cally proven to work? Yes. My colleagues and I set out to directly compare the effectiveness of willpower
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Molly Crockett is a neurologist based at UCL and Oxford University in the UK
and precommitment, placing them side- by-side in a series of experiments. We presented volunteers with a choice:
a small reward immediately, or a larger reward after a delay. In the willpower test, the volunteers had to use willpower to resist choosing the small reward while they waited for the larger one. In the precommitment test, they had the option to ‘precommit’ to the larger reward, removing the option to choose the inferior small reward while they waited. Precommitment proved to be the
winning strategy. Analysing people’s brain scans, we found that simply giving them
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the chance to precommit activated the brain’s reward network – and the good news is that this was particularly evident among those with the worst willpower.
How might precommitment work in the fi tness sector? By encouraging members to stick with their good intentions and regularly attend the gym, precommitment could just be the answer to the fi tness sector’s age-old retention battle. In the area of fi tness, it’s about
establishing a habit. When you fi rst start to exercise, it’s an intentional behaviour
July 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
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