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A smiling teenage girl lifts a racket out of a crate holding a football and sneakers, looks it over and lowers it again.

Rule · how5

Choose it yourself

You pick the activity or how to do it, with reasons given instead of orders.

TopicEvidencePotential benefit
Goals
Motivation

What 11 studies found

  1. HelpedTested
    Students who set their own goals and solved problems step by step cut phone fear more than the time-management group.

    Paper

  2. HelpedTested
    Students who set their own goals and solved problems rated daily tasks higher than the time group.

    Paper

  3. HelpedTested
    Students who had short chatbot lessons felt more interest and enjoyment than the lecture class.

    Paper

  4. No differenceTested
    Students who learned through short, self-paced chatbot lessons scored about the same on the test as the lecture class.

    Paper

  5. HelpedTested
    Students who did the goal-setting session raised their grades more than the other group, four months later.

    Paper

  6. HelpedTested
    None of the goal-setting students dropped below nine credits next term, against eight of 40 others.

    Paper

  7. HelpedTested
    Students in the goal-setting group said they felt less anxious, stressed and sad than the other group did.

    Paper

  8. HelpedUsed
    Women who wrote about their most important values scored higher on exams, while men's scores fell.

    Paper

  9. HelpedUsed
    Women who wrote about their most important values gained as much as men on a physics concept test.

    Paper

  10. HelpedTested
    A year of choice, enjoyment and goals led women to exercise 138 minutes more a week than a health course.

    Paper

  11. HelpedTested
    Over a year, women who got the programme lost about 6% more weight than women who took a health course.

    Paper

  12. HelpedTested
    Women in the programme gave more reasons for exercise that were their own, like fun and challenge.

    Paper

  13. No differenceUsed
    Reasons to stay in the programme because of pressure did not differ between the groups.

    Paper

  14. HelpedTested
    Across 41 studies, people given a choice were more motivated than people with no choice.

    Signs that small negative studies went unpublished

    Review

  15. HelpedTested
    Across 11 studies, people given a choice did better at the task than people with no choice.

    Signs that small negative studies went unpublished

    Review

  16. HelpedTested
    Across 7 studies, people given a choice felt more capable at the task than people with no choice.

    Signs that small negative studies went unpublished

    Review

  17. HelpedTested
    Two hours on the web raised psychological capital more than a decision task.

    Paper

  18. HelpedUsed
    Black students who wrote about their top value got better grades in that course.

    Paper

  19. HelpedUsed
    Fewer Black students who wrote about their top value got a D or below.

    Paper

  20. HelpedUsed
    Black students who wrote about their top value also got better grades in other courses.

    Paper

  21. HelpedTested
    After one interview, cannabis use fell from about 16 to 5 times a week; the other group's rose to 17.

    Paper

  22. HelpedTested
    After one interview, alcohol fell from about 13 to 8 units a week; the other group rose to 14.

    Paper

  23. HelpedTested
    After one interview, cigarettes fell from about 32 to 25 a week; the other group's rose to 39.

    Paper

  24. MixedTested
    Six weekly sessions made people feel more able in four areas, such as setting goals, but not in four others.

    Paper

  25. MixedTested
    The program made people less negative about diabetes, but not more positive.

    Paper

  26. HelpedTested
    Blood sugar improved a little more in the program group, but the two groups were tested at different times.

    Paper

  27. HelpedTested
    Teens who learned about being active, planned a week and picked their sports wanted to stay active more than others.

    Paper

  28. No differenceTested
    The same lessons did not clearly make teens want to be active for their own reasons more than usual lessons.

    Paper

  29. MixedTested
    Teens said they were more active after school, but trackers showed no more activity than with the usual lessons.

    Paper

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