Statistics · Updated November 2, 2026

New Year's Resolution Statistics 2026

Includes polls on 2026 resolutions from YouGov, The Washington Post and Fidelity

  • 78statistics
  • 37sources from 24 publishers
  • Checkedevery figure against its original source
  • FreeCSV download and ready-made citations

Compiled by the DeskRated research desk from YouGov, Pew Research Center, The Washington Post, Fidelity Investments, Ipsos and Gallup data.

31% of U.S. adults told YouGov in December 2025 that they would make a resolution or set a goal for 2026, and 48 percent told a Washington Post poll in early January that they had made one. How many keep them? In a University of Scranton study, 46% of resolvers were still succeeding at six months.

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Key findings

  1. 31%

    31% of U.S. adult citizens said they would make a New Year's resolution or set a goal for 2026, according to a YouGov poll of 1,104 people conducted December 9 to 11, 2025. Another 51% said no and 18% were not sure.

    YouGov, 'What are Americans' New Year's resolutions for 2026?', online poll of 1,104 U.S. adult citizens, December 9 to 11, 2025 · 2026 data

    Details
  2. 48 percent

    48 percent of U.S. adults said they had made at least one New Year's resolution for 2026, including 21 percent who made several, in a Washington Post poll of 1,031 adults conducted with SSRS on January 2 to 4, 2026.

    The Washington Post, 'What 1,000 Americans said about their New Year's resolutions', poll of 1,031 U.S. adults on the SSRS Opinion Panel, January 2 to 4, 2026 (margin of error plus or minus 3.4 points) · 2026 data

    Details
  3. 25%

    Exercising more was the most common New Year's resolution for 2026: 25% of U.S. adult citizens said they would resolve to do it, out of 25 options in YouGov's December 2025 poll of 1,104 people.

    YouGov, 'What are Americans' New Year's resolutions for 2026?', online poll of 1,104 U.S. adult citizens, December 9 to 11, 2025 · 2026 data

    Details
  4. 77%

    In the classic University of Scranton study by John Norcross and Dominic Vangarelli (Journal of Substance Abuse, 1988), 77% of 200 New Year's resolvers had kept their resolution after one week.

    Norcross, J.C. and Vangarelli, D.J., 'The resolution solution: Longitudinal examination of New Year's change attempts', Journal of Substance Abuse 1(2):127-134, University of Scranton, 200 resolvers followed by telephone for 2 years · 1986 resolutions (1988 study) data

    Details
  5. 19%

    Only 19% of the 200 resolvers in Norcross and Vangarelli's University of Scranton study (Journal of Substance Abuse, 1988) were still keeping their New Year's resolution two years later.

    Norcross, J.C. and Vangarelli, D.J., 'The resolution solution: Longitudinal examination of New Year's change attempts', Journal of Substance Abuse 1(2):127-134, University of Scranton, 200 resolvers followed by telephone for 2 years · 1986 resolutions (1988 study) data

    Details
  6. 46%

    At six months, 46% of New Year's resolvers were continuously successful, according to a 2002 University of Scranton study (Norcross, Mrykalo and Blagys, Journal of Clinical Psychology) that followed 159 resolvers by telephone.

    Norcross, J.C., Mrykalo, M.S. and Blagys, M.D., 'Auld lang syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year's resolvers and nonresolvers', Journal of Clinical Psychology 58(4):397-405, University of Scranton, 159 resolvers and 123 nonresolvers followed by telephone for six months · 2002 study (six-month follow-up) data

    Details
  7. 55%

    In a 2020 PLOS ONE study of 1,066 Swedish adults who made resolutions for 2017, 55% of those who answered the one-year follow-up considered themselves successful in sustaining their resolutions (Oscarsson, Carlbring, Andersson and Rozental, Stockholm University).

    Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G. and Rozental, A., 'A large-scale experiment on New Year's resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals', PLOS ONE 15(12): e0234097, Stockholm University; 1,066 Swedish adults recruited in the last week of December 2016, followed through 2017 · 2017 resolutions (2020 study) data

    Details
  8. 70%

    70% of U.S. adults who set a New Year's resolution for 2024 said they had abandoned it altogether by the end of the year, rising to 89% of Gen Z adults, according to a Harris Poll survey of 3,059 adults for Origin in January 2025.

    The Harris Poll for Origin, 'The New Year Called: It Wants Its Resolutions Back', online survey of 3,059 U.S. adults, January 13 to 15, 2025 · 2024 data

    Details
  9. 59%

    Less than a month into 2024, 59% of U.S. adults who made New Year's resolutions said they had kept all of them, 28% had kept some and 13% had kept none, according to Pew Research Center's survey of January 16 to 21, 2024.

    Pew Research Center, 'New Year's resolutions: Who makes them and why', American Trends Panel survey of 5,140 U.S. adults, January 16 to 21, 2024 · 2024 data

    Details
  10. 64%

    In Fidelity Investments' 2026 New Year's Financial Resolutions Study, 64% of U.S. adults said they were considering a financial resolution for 2026, compared with 56% who reported having a financial resolution in 2025 (survey of 3,026 adults, October 2025).

    Fidelity Investments, 2026 New Year's Financial Resolutions Study (17th annual), online survey of 3,026 U.S. adults by Big Village, October 1-8, 2025 · 2026 data

    Details
  11. 19%

    As of January 26, 2026, 19% reported taking part in Dry January in CivicScience's U.S. polling, up one percentage point from Dry January 2025.

    CivicScience, 'Dry January on the Rocks: Participation Is Up, But Completion Rates Slip', January 2026 (ongoing online U.S. polling) · January 2026 data

    Details

How many Americans make New Year's resolutions?

Somewhere between three in ten and half of U.S. adults make a New Year's resolution, depending on when the poll is taken and how the question is worded. Polls taken in December ask about plans; polls taken in January ask what people actually did.

Share of U.S. adult citizens who said in December they will make a New Year's resolution or set a goal for the coming year (YouGov, same question each year)
  • 2023 37%
  • 2024 34%
  • 2025 31%
  • 2026 31%

Source: YouGov December polls on resolutions for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 (fielded December 2022 to December 2025), same question each year: 'Will you make any type of New Year's resolution or set a goal for [year]?' (link is the 2026 poll). Chart: DeskRated, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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202337%
202434%
202531%
202631%

These polls measure different things. YouGov (December) and Harris for CIT Bank (November) ask whether people plan to make a resolution, and YouGov counts setting a goal too. The Washington Post/SSRS (first week of January) and Pew (mid-January 2024) ask whether people made one. Cite the measure with the number.

Who makes resolutions: age, gender and income

Age is the biggest divide: in YouGov's poll, adults under 45 were about twice as likely as older adults to plan a resolution for 2026, and every other poll also finds younger adults ahead. Men and women make them at about the same rate, and higher-income adults are more likely to plan one.

Share who said they will make a New Year's resolution or set a goal for 2026, by group (YouGov, December 9 to 11, 2025, 1,104 U.S. adult citizens)
GroupYes (%)No (%)Not sure (%)
All adults315118
Men315316
Women314920
Ages 18-29403426
Ages 30-44454015
Ages 45-64265519
Ages 65+147214
White285319
Black374419
Hispanic404416
Income under $50K265420
Income $50K-$100K344917
Income $100K+414317

Source: YouGov, New Year's Resolutions poll results (crosstabs), question 14

Subgroup figures have wider margins of error than the overall result; YouGov's subgroups run from about 138 to 588 respondents. Pew found only modest differences by gender, race and party in January 2024.

The most common New Year's resolutions for 2026

Exercise and money top almost every list, with eating healthier close behind in most. The percentages differ widely because some polls divide by all adults, some by resolution-makers only, and some ask about each goal one at a time.

Top New Year's resolutions for 2026, share of all U.S. adult citizens (YouGov, December 9 to 11, 2025; 25 options, select all that apply)
  • Exercising more 25%
  • Being happy 23%
  • Eating healthier 22%
  • Saving more money 21%
  • Improving physical health 21%
  • Losing weight 17%
  • Improving mental health 16%

Source: YouGov, New Year's Resolutions poll results, question 15: 'Which of the following will you resolve to start doing in 2026? Select all that apply.' (base: all 1,104 U.S. adult citizens; the 51% not making a resolution were not asked). Chart: DeskRated, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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Exercising more25%
Being happy23%
Eating healthier22%
Saving more money21%
Improving physical health21%
Losing weight17%
Improving mental health16%

Bases differ. YouGov's percentages are of all adults. Statista, the Washington Post and Pew report shares of people who made resolutions. Ipsos asked about each resolution separately, which produces much higher numbers. Compare goals within one poll, not across polls.

What percentage of New Year's resolutions fail? The research

Only a handful of studies have followed the same resolvers for months or years. They find that most people start strong, and that a large minority are still on track six months to a year later.

Share of resolvers still keeping their New Year's resolution, Norcross and Vangarelli study of 200 resolvers (1986 resolutions, published 1988). Points are not evenly spaced in time.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1 week 77% 3 weeks 3 months 2 years 19% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 1 week 77% 3 weeks 3 months 2 years 19%

Source: Norcross, J.C. and Vangarelli, D.J., 'The resolution solution: Longitudinal examination of New Year's change attempts', Journal of Substance Abuse 1(2):127-134, University of Scranton, 200 resolvers followed by telephone for 2 years; Table 1 (full text of the published article; DOI 10.1016/S0899-3289(88)80016-6). Chart: DeskRated, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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1 week77%
2 weeks66%
3 weeks60%
1 month55%
3 months43%
6 months40%
2 years19%
The main follow-up studies of New Year's resolutions
StudyWho was followedFollow-upResult
Norcross & Vangarelli (1988)200 resolvers, Pennsylvania2 years19% still keeping it
Norcross, Mrykalo & Blagys (2002)159 resolvers, 123 non-resolvers6 months46% vs 4% continuously successful
Oscarsson et al. (2020)1,066 Swedish adults1 year55% of responders successful
Woolley, Giurge & Fishbach (2025)2,000 U.S. adultsAbout 1 year12.3% quit, 9.7% achieved (of 577)

Source: Norcross and Vangarelli (1988) and Norcross, Mrykalo and Blagys (2002), University of Scranton; Oscarsson et al. (2020), PLOS ONE; Woolley, Giurge and Fishbach (2025), Psychological Science. Each study is linked in the stats above; link is the 2025 study

These studies are small, and the best known are old. Norcross and Vangarelli followed 200 adults from northeastern Pennsylvania who phoned in resolutions for 1986, and success meant telling an interviewer by phone that they had mostly or totally succeeded. The 2002 study also relied on self-reports by telephone. The 2020 Swedish and 2025 U.S. studies used self-selected online participants (Swedish volunteers recruited through social media and news, and paid U.S. Mechanical Turk workers) who rated their own progress, and many stopped answering, so their success rates describe the people who stayed and probably run high.

When people give up on their resolutions

The steepest drop comes in the first weeks of January. In the 1988 Scranton study the share keeping their resolution fell from 77% after one week to 55% after one month, then declined much more slowly.

Share of responding participants who considered themselves successful, by month of 2017, Swedish study of 1,066 resolvers
0% 50% 100% Jan 88.8% Mar May Jul Sep Dec 54.7% 0% 50% 100% Jan 88.8% Apr Jul Dec 54.7%

Source: Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G. and Rozental, A., 'A large-scale experiment on New Year's resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals', PLOS ONE 15(12): e0234097, Stockholm University; 1,066 Swedish adults recruited in the last week of December 2016, followed through 2017, Table 3. Chart: DeskRated, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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Jan88.8%
Feb80.9%
Mar75.1%
Apr74.4%
May73.6%
Jun67.8%
Jul71.1%
Aug71.6%
Sep73.7%
Oct69.4%
Nov66.2%
Dec54.7%

The Swedish monthly figures are shares of the people who answered each survey. Everyone was surveyed in January, June and December, but from February to May and July to November only the two supported groups were asked, and about half of those surveyed responded from July to November. Treat the month-to-month wiggles with caution.

Did people keep their resolutions? Poll check-ins

The newest U.S. follow-up is a Harris Poll for Origin taken in January 2025, which asked people how their 2024 resolutions went. Earlier check-ins by Pew and YouGov in 2024 found most resolution-makers saying they were still on track a month or two in.

These are self-reports. The Harris Poll for Origin asked in January 2025 about the whole of 2024, while Pew (January 16 to 21, 2024) and YouGov (March 4 to 8, 2024) asked weeks into the year. As of November 2026 we found no published U.S. poll measuring how many people kept their 2025 or 2026 resolutions through the year.

Writing down goals and goal setting statistics

The popular claim that writing goals down makes you far more likely to succeed rests mostly on one small, unpublished study. The stronger evidence comes from meta-analyses of if-then planning, progress tracking and goal setting, which find small to medium-to-large benefits.

Mean goal achievement score after four weeks, by group, Matthews study (149 completers)
  • Unwritten goals 4.3
  • Written goals 6.1
  • Written + action plans 5.1
  • Shared with a friend 6.4
  • Weekly progress reports 7.6

Source: Gail Matthews, Dominican University of California, 'Goals Research Summary' of 'The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement' (podium presentation, 87th Convention of the Western Psychological Association, Vancouver, 2007; not a peer-reviewed journal article). Chart: DeskRated, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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Unwritten goals4.3
Written goals6.1
Written + action plans5.1
Shared with a friend6.4
Weekly progress reports7.6
Meta-analyses on goals and goal achievement
StudyWhat was testedEvidence baseAverage effect
Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006)If-then plans94 independent testsd = .65
Harkin et al. (2016)Monitoring goal progress138 studies, 19,951 peopled+ = 0.40
Epton, Currie & Armitage (2017)Setting goals384 effect sizes, 16,523 peopled = .34

Source: Gollwitzer and Sheeran (2006), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology; Harkin et al. (2016), Psychological Bulletin; Epton, Currie and Armitage (2017), Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Each is linked in the stats above; link is Harkin et al.

The Dominican University study by Gail Matthews had 149 finishers, was presented at a 2007 psychology convention, and we found no peer-reviewed publication of it. Its summary reports mean achievement scores, not percentages, and does not contain the often-quoted '42% more likely' figure. Effect sizes (d) measure the gap between groups in standard deviations: about 0.2 is small, 0.5 medium and 0.8 large.

Money and financial resolutions

Money is the most measured resolution topic, because banks and brokerages poll on it every year. The two big 2026 surveys asked different people different questions, so their headline numbers are not comparable.

Top financial resolutions in Fidelity's New Year's Financial Resolutions Study, by study year (share of those considering a financial resolution)
Study yearSave more moneyPay down debtSpend less
2024 study41%38%30%
2025 study43%37%31%
2026 study44%36%30%

Source: Fidelity Investments, New Year's Financial Resolutions Study, 15th, 16th and 17th annual releases (2024, 2025 and 2026 studies); link is the 2026 release

Fidelity asked all U.S. adults whether they were considering a financial resolution. The Wells Fargo and Ipsos survey covered only adults 25 and older with household income under $100,000, and its 97% figure is a share of the 37% who expected to make any resolution at all.

Fitness, gym and diet resolutions

The best evidence on fitness resolutions comes from behavior rather than polls: phone-location data on gym visits and wearable activity data. Veganuary publishes its own estimate of how many people try a vegan January.

Veganuary's own estimates of people worldwide who tried vegan in January (survey-based estimates)
YearEstimated participants
202425 million
202525.8 million
202630 million

Source: Veganuary, participation results for 2024, 2025 and 2026 (link is the 2026 results)

Placer.ai's figures are modeled foot-traffic estimates for U.S. fitness locations, and its January 2024 month-over-month figure was later revised (22.1% in its February 2024 article, 23.4% in its February 2025 article). Apple's figures cover about 100,000 Apple Watch wearers in its Heart and Movement Study, who are not a representative sample of adults. Veganuary's totals are its own estimates, built from country surveys multiplied by population.

Dry January and drinking less

Dry January began as a UK charity campaign, and the UK figures below come from the charity that runs it, Alcohol Change UK. In the U.S. there is no official count, so the best measures are polls on taking part and on drinking overall.

Share of U.S. adults who say they drink alcohol, Gallup
  • 2023 62%
  • 2024 58%
  • 2025 54%
  • 2026 54%

Source: Gallup, 'Americans' Drinking Remains at Record Low', August 20, 2026. Chart: DeskRated, free to reuse with a link to this page.

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202362%
202458%
202554%
202654%

UK figures are labeled UK. Alcohol Change UK's 17.5 million is people planning a month off alcohol, while its 200,000 is people who took part using its app, emails and online groups. CivicScience's 2026 release does not restate its base; its 2025 release reported the comparable figure among U.S. adults who drink.

Widely shared figures we could not trace to a source

These numbers appear on many resolution pages. We looked for the original survey or study behind each one. None of them holds up as usually quoted, so they are not used anywhere on this page.

Commonly repeated New Year's resolution and goal claims, and what the original sources actually say
ClaimWhat we found
Only 8% of people keep their resolutionsNot in either University of Scranton study. They report 46% succeeding at six months (2002) and 19% at two years (1988).
92% of resolutions failThis is 100 minus the 8% claim above. It is not a measured failure rate.
Only 9% keep their resolutionsNo survey or study we could find reports it.
Harvard or Yale MBA study: the 3% with written goals earned 10 times moreNo such study exists. Gail Matthews' own research summary calls it an urban myth.
23% quit in the first week and 43% by the end of JanuaryThe 23% matches the 1988 Scranton study (77% still on track at one week). But 55% were on track at one month, so 45% had lapsed, not 43%.
Writing goals down makes you 42% more likely to achieve themThe Matthews summary reports average scores (6.08 written vs 4.28 unwritten), not a likelihood. 6.08 is about 42% higher than 4.28.
43% are making resolutions for 2026, up from 35% (Harris Poll)Recycled from a December 2020 CIT Bank and Harris Poll release. Their 2026 figure is 42%.
Strava: 80% quit by "Quitter's Day" in mid-JanuaryStrava has no current page with that figure. The original 2019 analysis survives only in reposts.

Source: DeskRated review of the original sources, including Gail Matthews' Dominican University research summary (linked) and the University of Scranton studies linked above

If you need a failure rate, cite a specific study and its follow-up point, for example "19% of resolvers in a 1988 University of Scranton study were still keeping their resolution after two years."

Methodology

This page uses the pollster's or researcher's own publication for every figure: YouGov's articles and crosstabs, Pew Research Center's report, the Washington Post's poll write-up with SSRS, CIT Bank's release of its Harris Poll survey, Fidelity's and Wells Fargo's own releases, Gallup, CivicScience, Placer.ai, Apple, Veganuary and Alcohol Change UK, plus the peer-reviewed papers themselves (abstracts on PubMed or the journals' own pages). We did not take figures from other statistics roundups. Each stat links to the exact page it came from.

Polls on resolutions are not interchangeable. December and November polls (YouGov, Harris for CIT Bank, Fidelity, Ipsos) ask about plans for the coming year, while January polls (the Washington Post with SSRS, Pew) ask what people actually did. Some divide by all adults and some by resolution-makers only, and Ipsos asked about each resolution one at a time. That is why the share making resolutions ranges from about 30% to 48% and why exercise ranges from 25% to 48%. We give each figure with its own question and base, and never mix pollsters in one chart.

Research on keeping resolutions is thin. The University of Scranton studies (1988 and 2002) are small, older samples who reported their progress by telephone. The 2020 Swedish study and the 2025 U.S. study used online volunteers who rated themselves, and many stopped answering, so their success rates describe the people who stayed and probably run high. We report each study's result at its own follow-up point rather than a single 'failure rate'.

UK figures (Alcohol Change UK and the University of Sussex research it summarizes) are labeled UK. Veganuary's participant counts are the organization's own survey-based estimates. Placer.ai's gym visit figures are modeled foot-traffic estimates. This page will be updated when the polls on 2027 resolutions are released in December 2026 and January 2027.

Spot an error or a newer figure? Tell us and we will correct the page and note the change.

Cite this page

Free to quote, chart or link in articles, reports and coursework. Please credit the original source for each figure and link to this page as the compilation.

DeskRated. (2026, November 2). New Year's Resolution Statistics 2026. https://deskrated.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Americans make New Year's resolutions?

Between about three in ten and half, depending on the poll. In December 2025, 31% of U.S. adult citizens told YouGov they would make a resolution or set a goal for 2026, and 42% told The Harris Poll (for CIT Bank) in November 2025 that they planned to. Asked in the first days of January 2026, 48 percent of adults told the Washington Post and SSRS they had made at least one. Pew Research Center found that three in ten adults had made a resolution for 2024.

What percentage of New Year's resolutions fail?

There is no single reliable failure rate. In the 1988 University of Scranton study of 200 resolvers, 77% were keeping their resolution after one week, 55% after one month, 40% after six months and 19% after two years. A 2002 Scranton study found 46% of resolvers continuously successful at six months, and a 2020 Swedish study found 55% of those who answered the one-year follow-up considered themselves successful. The often-repeated 8%, 9% and 92% figures do not trace to any study.

How many people keep their New Year's resolutions?

Most say they are still on track early in the year, but far fewer by the end of it. In January 2024, 59% of U.S. adults who made resolutions told Pew they had kept all of them so far, and in a YouGov check-in in March 2024, 18% said they had stuck to them entirely and 53% mostly. Looking back on the whole year, 70% of adults who set a 2024 resolution told The Harris Poll for Origin in January 2025 that they had abandoned it altogether.

What are the most common New Year's resolutions for 2026?

Exercise, money and eating better. Exercising more topped YouGov's December 2025 poll, chosen by 25% of all U.S. adult citizens. Among people who make resolutions, Statista found 48% planned to exercise more, 46% to save more money and 45% to eat healthier. In Fidelity's 2026 study, saving more money (44%) was the top financial resolution.

Does writing down your goals help you achieve them?

Probably, but the famous evidence is weak. Gail Matthews' Dominican University study, presented at a 2007 convention and never published in a journal, had 149 finishers; those who wrote goals down scored 6.44 on goal achievement after four weeks versus 4.28 for those who did not. Stronger evidence comes from a 2016 meta-analysis of 138 studies, which found that monitoring progress helps (d+ = 0.40) and that physically recording progress helps more (d+ = 0.43) than not recording it (d+ = 0.29).

Is the Harvard (or Yale) written goals study real?

No. The story that 3% of graduates with written goals went on to earn 10 times as much as the rest has never been traced to a real study. Gail Matthews, whose own goals study is often cited alongside it, calls it an urban myth in her research summary.

When do most people give up on their New Year's resolutions?

In the first month. In the 1988 Scranton study, the share keeping their resolution fell from 77% after one week to 66% after two weeks and 55% after one month, then only to 40% at six months. In the Swedish study of 2017 resolutions, 88.8% of responding participants considered themselves successful at the end of January and 54.7% in December.

How many people do Dry January?

In the U.S., 19% reported taking part in Dry January 2026 in CivicScience's polling. In the UK, Alcohol Change UK estimated that 17.5 million people planned a month off alcohol in January 2026. Gallup found 54% of U.S. adults said they drink alcohol in July 2026, matching 2025 as the lowest in its trend.

Sources

  1. YouGov, 'What are Americans' New Year's resolutions for 2026?', online poll of 1,104 U.S. adult citizens, December 9 to 11, 2025 yougov.com
  2. The Washington Post, 'What 1,000 Americans said about their New Year's resolutions', poll of 1,031 U.S. adults on the SSRS Opinion Panel, January 2 to 4, 2026 (margin of error plus or minus 3.4 points) washingtonpost.com
  3. CIT Bank, 2026 New Year's Resolution Saving and Spending Survey, conducted by The Harris Poll among 2,088 U.S. adults, November 4 to 6, 2025 (press release) prnewswire.com
  4. Pew Research Center, 'New Year's resolutions: Who makes them and why', American Trends Panel survey of 5,140 U.S. adults, January 16 to 21, 2024 pewresearch.org
  5. YouGov, New Year's Resolutions poll results (crosstabs), question 14, 1,104 U.S. adult citizens, December 9 to 11, 2025 d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net
  6. CIT Bank, '2026 New Year's resolutions survey', conducted by The Harris Poll among 2,088 U.S. adults, November 4 to 6, 2025 cit.com
  7. YouGov, 'What are Americans' New Year's resolutions for 2025?', online poll of U.S. adult citizens, December 9 to 11, 2024 yougov.com
  8. Statista, 'America's Top New Year's Resolutions for 2026' (chart by Anna Fleck, updated December 16, 2025), Statista Consumer Insights survey of 539 U.S. respondents who have made New Year's resolutions, October to November 2025 statista.com
  9. Ipsos Consumer Tracker, topline (Wave 131), question 9, poll of 1,085 U.S. adults, December 9 to 10, 2025 ipsos.com
  10. Ipsos, 'Americans resolve to make 2026 better', Ipsos Consumer Tracker, December 9 to 10, 2025 (1,085 U.S. adults) ipsos.com
  11. Norcross, J.C. and Vangarelli, D.J., 'The resolution solution: Longitudinal examination of New Year's change attempts', Journal of Substance Abuse 1(2):127-134, University of Scranton, 200 resolvers followed by telephone for 2 years pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  12. Norcross, J.C., Mrykalo, M.S. and Blagys, M.D., 'Auld lang syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year's resolvers and nonresolvers', Journal of Clinical Psychology 58(4):397-405, University of Scranton, 159 resolvers and 123 nonresolvers followed by telephone for six months pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  13. Oscarsson, M., Carlbring, P., Andersson, G. and Rozental, A., 'A large-scale experiment on New Year's resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals', PLOS ONE 15(12): e0234097, Stockholm University; 1,066 Swedish adults recruited in the last week of December 2016, followed through 2017 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  14. Woolley, K., Giurge, L.M. and Fishbach, A., 'Adherence to Personal Resolutions Across Time, Culture, and Goal Domains', Psychological Science 36(8):607-621, Study 1: 2,000 U.S. adults recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk, surveyed four times over a year (577 completed all four surveys), Table 1 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  15. Norcross, J.C. and Vangarelli, D.J., 'The resolution solution: Longitudinal examination of New Year's change attempts', Journal of Substance Abuse 1(2):127-134, University of Scranton, 200 resolvers followed by telephone for 2 years; Table 1 (full text of the published article; DOI 10.1016/S0899-3289(88)80016-6) doi.org
  16. The Harris Poll for Origin, 'The New Year Called: It Wants Its Resolutions Back', online survey of 3,059 U.S. adults, January 13 to 15, 2025 useorigin.com
  17. YouGov, 'Two-thirds of Americans who made resolutions for 2024 say they have stuck to them so far', poll of 1,000 U.S. adult citizens, March 4 to 8, 2024 yougov.com
  18. Gail Matthews, Dominican University of California, 'Goals Research Summary' of 'The Impact of Commitment, Accountability, and Written Goals on Goal Achievement' (podium presentation, 87th Convention of the Western Psychological Association, Vancouver, 2007; not a peer-reviewed journal article) dominican.edu
  19. Dominican University of California, news release 'Huffington Post cites Matthews' work on goal setting', March 2015 (Matthews study of 267 recruited participants) scholar.dominican.edu
  20. Gollwitzer, P.M. and Sheeran, P., 'Implementation Intentions and Goal Achievement: A Meta-Analysis of Effects and Processes', Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 38:69-119 (author copy, University of Konstanz KOPS repository; DOI 10.1016/S0065-2601(06)38002-1) kops.uni-konstanz.de
  21. Harkin, B., Webb, T.L., Chang, B.P., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y. and Sheeran, P., 'Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence', Psychological Bulletin 142(2):198-229, 138 studies (N = 19,951) pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  22. Harkin, B., Webb, T.L., Chang, B.P., Prestwich, A., Conner, M., Kellar, I., Benn, Y. and Sheeran, P., 'Does monitoring goal progress promote goal attainment? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence', Psychological Bulletin 142(2):198-229, 138 studies (N = 19,951) (accepted manuscript, White Rose Research Online) eprints.whiterose.ac.uk
  23. Epton, T., Currie, S. and Armitage, C.J., 'Unique effects of setting goals on behavior change: Systematic review and meta-analysis', Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 85(12):1182-1198 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
  24. Schippers, M.C., Morisano, D., Locke, E.A., Scheepers, A.W.A., Latham, G.P. and de Jong, E.M., 'Writing about personal goals and plans regardless of goal type boosts academic performance', Contemporary Educational Psychology 60:101823 (total n = 2,928) pure.eur.nl
  25. Fidelity Investments, 2026 New Year's Financial Resolutions Study (17th annual), online survey of 3,026 U.S. adults by Big Village, October 1-8, 2025 newsroom.fidelity.com
  26. Wells Fargo survey conducted by Ipsos, 1,369 U.S. adults aged 25+ with household income under $100,000, November 6-10, 2025 ipsos.com
  27. Placer.ai, 'Fitness Starts Strong in 2025', foot-traffic analysis of U.S. fitness locations, February 14, 2025 placer.ai
  28. Apple Newsroom, 'Stay active in the new year with Apple Watch', analysis of Apple Heart and Movement Study data from about 100,000 participants over four years, January 2026 apple.com
  29. Veganuary, 'Veganuary celebrates 30 million global participants', February 4, 2026; surveys by YouGov (January 20-29, 2026) and Wakefield Research (U.S., January 14-22, 2026) veganuary.com
  30. Veganuary, 'How many people took part in Veganuary 2025? The results explained', February 2025 veganuary.com
  31. Veganuary, 'How many people took part in Veganuary 2024? The results explained', February 2024 veganuary.com
  32. CivicScience, 'Dry January on the Rocks: Participation Is Up, But Completion Rates Slip', January 2026 (ongoing online U.S. polling) civicscience.com
  33. CivicScience, 'More Americans Plan to Participate in Dry January', January 2026 civicscience.com
  34. Gallup, 'Americans' Drinking Remains at Record Low', Consumption Habits survey, telephone interviews with 1,200 U.S. adults, July 1-19, 2026 news.gallup.com
  35. YouGov, 'Why 36% of Americans are drinking less alcohol in 2026', YouGov Profiles data, June 2025 to June 2026 yougov.com
  36. Alcohol Change UK, 'The evidence behind the Dry January challenge' and 'UK brings a Jan-do attitude to better health and wellbeing in 2026', December 2025; Censuswide polling of 2,000 UK adults, November 11-14, 2025 alcoholchange.org.uk
  37. Alcohol Change UK, 'UK brings a Jan-do attitude to better health and wellbeing in 2026', December 2025; Censuswide polling of 2,000 UK adults, November 11-14, 2025 alcoholchange.org.uk

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