When Users Resist Change
PART II
A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape - Mark Twain
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Who has not experienced changes in her or his life? Some changes are subtle and occur so gradually as to be unnoticeable, the changes in our bodies as we age for example. Others are dramatic and occur with little notice and in what seems like an instant; think, weather. The type of change that presents us with the greatest challenge, however, is adapting to a change in the “status quo,” a change from the way things are…and we believe should remain.
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Sandra Anis Barnes wrote in her?collection of poems,?Life is the Way It Is, “It's so hard when I have to, and so easy when I want to.” This is the hinge on which the probability of change swings. If I do not want to do something...or think I need to do something, I won't. You can “make me behave differently,” but that is manipulated change and all but certainly temporary. What differentiates between “having to do something” and “wanting to do something” rests with the perception of relative?value. If what I am doing has more value to me than what you propose I do instead, I am not going to change. It is only when I realize that an alternative to my current behavior proffers greater opportunity or has more value that I will consider changing.
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Consider Matthew's New Testament parable about “the treasure” and “the pearl,” (Matthew 13:44-46). In the first, a man finds a treasure in a field and realizing its value, hides it, and sells all he owns so he can purchase the field and thereby possess its now hidden treasure. In the second, a pearl merchant finds a gem of immeasurable value. He too sells everything he owns to purchase the pearl. In both cases, the protagonists’ awareness of the value of their newly discovered finds results in their willingness to sell all they own to acquire the new treasure. Their “change” in willingness to part with all they possess occurs because they encounter something of greater value than that already possessed; they alter?their behavior to advance their position. In economics, this is referred to as conducting a cost-benefit analysis, that is, asking oneself if what I possess is of lesser or greater value than what I can obtain through change. In the case of Matthew's protagonists, the perceived ROI or return on investment is significant...the value of what is possessed is less than that of the newly discovered alternative, and therefore the decision to give up the old in exchange for the new, that is to “change,” is made.
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Everything has value although the exact nature of that value is subjective. Consequently, alcohol and other drugs as substances and their use as behavior may have great value for the individual who views them as the antidote for social anxiety or the price of admission to “a good time,” or a convenient escape from the stress and demands of life. When the value of a substance and its consumption are high, individuals?perceive the cost of changing the behaviors associated with their pursuit?as?“too great” and they resist making any changes. The challenge for those concerned about high-risk and dangerous substance use is to engage users in such a way that when they contemplate this exchange, they “want to change” because they recognize it as in their best interest…the value of the “change” is greater than the loss of perceived benefits in their current pattern of use. For this to happen the user needs to become aware of the benefits associated with a change and how they outweigh the costs associated with making that change.
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For change to occur, any change, sacrificing something must occur. To expect me to “give up” what to this point I have valued highly, I need to recognize the potential to realize even more or greater benefits that will result from the change than I am losing by giving up my use. In other words, when something better comes along and is recognized as being better, it changes the way I evaluate everything. Put another way, change represents receiving something that I did not have before and realizing that it is of greater value, more desirable, and/or less costly than what I must give up to get it. Change, if nothing else, is the act of gaining something while at the same time losing something else. The relative values of the “thing lost” and “thing gained” determine if the change will occur.
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Let's look at two examples to illustrate this. In the first, ask yourself if you would pay $1 to use a public restroom. If you have no need for a restroom your answer is likely an emphatic no. If, however, you have dire need to relieve yourself, what do you think now of the $1 charge to use the facilities? In the second example, ask yourself if you would complete a 10-minute survey to save $1 on a $500 purchase; then ask, would you do so to save $1 on a $5 purchase. If I view the $1 discount as .2% savings I am likely unwilling to invest the time necessary to realize such a miniscule savings. If, however, taking the 10-minutes survey results in a 20% savings, I may very well look at the time as “well spent.”
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What’s my point...until and unless I perceive the value of change as exceeding the value of what I must give up to make the change, I will likely be unwilling to change. So, back to Ottis Redding's lyric cited in Part I:?I can't do what ten people tell me to do, so I guess I'll remain the same.?The operative phrase here is “what ten people?tell me to do.” People are willing to change and do so regularly, they are just not willing to change when directed to do so. We see this in adults as echoed in the adage, “Knowledge is knowing a lot of facts but wisdom is coming to an awareness of which are important.”
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In drawing this series to a conclusion, note that I do not advocate just “letting users be.” This is not an option for two reasons: (1) Unassisted change can take significant time to occur if at all; (2) regarding the use of alcohol and other drugs, high-risk use can become a substance use disorder in a relatively short time. For these reasons, practitioners concerned about high-risk and dangerous substance use may wish to consider some or all the following options[1]:
Although individuals' behavior…dare I say habits… are influenced by many variables, they generally only change when an individual concludes that doing so is in her or his best interest. Those of us who are interested in affecting individual behavior are advised to keep this in mind as we consider how best to approach them in conversations about their alcohol or other drug use, and their predilection to engage in high-risk activities.
As we contemplate conversations with users it may be helpful to revisit the advice of Mark Twin; Habit?is?habit?and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.?
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What do you think?
[1] More on these and other alternative options can be found on my blog – https://robertchapman.blogspot.com