When Bigger is Better: Size of Strategy Repertoire Predicts Goal Attainment

People are highly motivated to change their behavior. Unfortunately, many people have difficulty doing so. Building on recent theorizing, we propose that having access to a wide range of strategies – that is, a larger strategy repertoire – can help people achieve their goals. In eight samples across a variety of domains, participants (Ntotal=2,347) reported their use of seven strategies that determined their strategy repertoire for a particular goal. Findings indicated that having a larger strategy repertoire predicted goal attainment. These findings replicated across domains (healthy eating, academic performance, saving money), among self-set personal goals, at both the between-person and within-person levels, and were robust to different operationalizations of strategy repertoire, but differed by behavior. Specifically, having a larger strategy repertoire consistently predicted subjective goal progress, healthier eating, and more adaptive financial behaviors, but not snack intake or subjective credit score. Among the people who reported on multiple goals, we also found that their strategy repertoire was highly similar across domains. Together, these findings highlight that having a larger strategy “toolbox” has important implications for downstream regulation processes, which sets the stage for lasting behavior change.