DEL.ICIO.USHEALTH NEWS
Survey: Men more likely to follow through on resolutions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, a timely survey suggests that men don’t just talk big about them, but are more likely to follow through.
The new survey of 2,256 adults, commissioned by Dorthy.com (a Web site promising to help people reach their dreams) and conducted by Harris Interactive, found 22 percent of men keep their resolutions, compared to 12 percent of women.
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But experts apprised of the findings are skeptical, and aren’t urging women to run to the men in their lives for pointers on shedding those extra pounds.
Erik Fisher, an Atlanta psychologist, said one possible explanation for the discrepancy in the survey is women tend to set more goals and to spread themselves too thin. He also thinks women can be harder on themselves.
“For example, a person goes off their diet for a day. The woman may say that they messed it up and call it a failure, whereas a man may get [back] on it the next day and say he’s still on target,” he said.
Still, male or female — both sexes face paltry odds of staying on target with their resolutions.
One way to do better, Fisher suggests, is to write it down.
“I believe that when people write their goals down, they are more likely to commit to them because they have ‘made it real’ by putting it on paper,” he said.
Other curious findings from the new survey:
• 74 percent of women make resolutions compared to 58 percent of men.
• Men making resolutions are more likely to share them with their spouses (41 percent of men compared to 29 percent of women).
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