Compass

What it does in Road Mates

At each phase the compass asks a few yes/no questions. They are short on purpose: you answer in seconds, and the answers feed the needle.

How it works

• Questions contrast where you are with where you want to be.
• They ask about obstacles so you can plan for them before they hit.
• Answers are private by default and never shown as a score to other members.

What the research found

Mental contrasting imagines the goal and then the obstacles in the way. Combined with if-then plans it is often called WOOP. A 2021 meta-analysis of 21 studies and about 15,900 participants found a small-to-medium effect on goal attainment (g = 0.336), larger when someone interacted with participants than with written materials alone.

A review focused on health behavior found g = 0.28 up to four weeks, rising to g = 0.38 up to three months.

Limits

• The authors warn publication bias may mean the true effect is smaller.
• Adding if-then plans on top of mental contrasting did not clearly add more in the health review.