The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior

The notion that renewal is possible and offers individuals an opportunity to improve themselves has long been endorsed by our culture. For example, many religious groups engage in ritual purification ceremonies, Christians can be “born again,” and the metaphorical phoenix rising from the ashes ubiquitously represents rebirth. This suggests a widely shared belief that we have opportunities through out our lives to start fresh with a clean slate, with the well-known “New Year’s effect” representing just one example of a far broader phenomenon. The current research explores naturally-arising points in time when an individual is particularly motivated to engage in aspirational behaviors (or activities that help people achieve their wishes and personal goals). Past research suggests that temporal landmarks, including personally-relevant life events (e.g., anniversaries, birthdays) and reference points on the calendar (e.g., holidays, the start of a new week/month/year/semester) demarcate the passage of time and create discontinuities in our memories, experiences, and time perceptions (Robinson, 1986; Shum, 1998). Further, temporal landmarks may increase the subjective distance between a person’s current self and past self (Libby & Eibach, 2002; Peetz & Wilson, 2013; Wilson & Ross, 2003). The theory of temporal self-appraisal posits that the more disconnected people feel from their past selves, the more likely they are to disparage their past selves (Wilson & Ross, 2001). By doing so, they are able to maintain a positive perception of them selves in spite of past failures (Wilson & Ross, 2001). Consequently, we conjecture that temporal landmarks separate people from their imperfect past selves, which makes them feel superior and thus capable of pursuing their aspirations. We hypothesize that this process of wiping the slate clean generates fresh start feelings and motivates people to tackle their goals.