FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS 2

Force Field Analysis

On the surface, making a personal change looks exceedingly simple. You are at ‘this’
point and you want to get to ‘that’ point. You simply move to the desired point. It seems that all
you need to effect personal change is will. Unfortunately, this is not the case in real life. So many
desires and goals go unachieved because of the difficulty of making personal changes needed to
enable the fulfilment of the goal. The main reason why making changes is difficult is because
every situation has multiple factors affecting it (Verplanken et al., 2018). Some of these factors
encourage change while others resist any change to the situation. Force field analysis (FFA)
provides a framework that can be used to analyze all the pro-change (driving) forces and anti-
change (hindering) forces that influence a situation and, therefore, helping in establishing a
realistic plan of effecting the desired change through reinforcing driving forces and minimizing
restraining forces (Verplanken et al., 2018).
Force Field Analysis Model
The model was developed by the psychologist Kurt Lewin. It has a centre line and
columns on its left and right sides. The centre line represents the current state that one needs to
change. On the left of the line is a column containing all the driving forces that encourage the
change. On the line’s right are restraining forces that hinder the desired change (Burnes, 2017).
Both the driving and hindering forces are given scores. The score reflects the significance of the
force in either encouraging or hindering change. The higher the score the more significant the
driving or hindering force. Generally, the scores range from 1-10 with 1 as the least significant
force and 10 as the most significant one (Burnes, 2017). The scores on each column are added
and the totals compared. If the total score of driving forces is greater than hindering forces then

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS 3
the change is easy to effect. A higher total score of hindering forces means that the change is
going to be difficult to implement (Hayes, 2018).
My Personal Change
My goal is to lose weight and become physically fit. It is a goal that I have had for a
long time but it remains unachieved. Sometimes I get very motivated and embark on vigorous
physical exercises only to lose the motivation after a few days and stop exercising. I am not
comfortable in my body. Moreover, I know that physical exercises are great for my health and
well-being. My failure to achieve this goal has left me feeling frustrated.
Using Force Field Analysis to Achieve My Personal Change
Force Field Analysis allows me to have a holistic look at forces encouraging and
hindering my ability to change my current physical state. In this model, the centre line represents
my state of physical of lacking physical fitness. On the left is a list of forces driving my change
from a state of physical inactivity to a state of physical activity. On the right is a list of forces
hindering the change. All these forces have scores reflecting their magnitude.
Personal Goal: Improve Physical Fitness

Driving Forces Scor
e
Hindering forces Scor
e
Having a body that looks good 5 Lack of adequate time for
physical exercises

8

Improve my health and wellbeing 6 Lack of gym near home 7
Have more energy for work 4 Easy access to very unhealthy
and cheap fast foods

7

Have more energy for family 4 Spending a lot of time on the 3

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS 4

internet

Live longer life so that I can see my kids
grow into adults and have kids of their own
3

Total score 22 Total score 25

Intervention Strategy
As the scores of the various forces show, restraining forces have a higher score than
driving forces. This does not mean that the desired change cannot be implemented. It only
reveals that the change is going to be a difficult one and will require taking of various steps to
reduce the significance of the restraining forces.
On lack of adequate time for physical exercises there are two ways in which this force
can be handled. One is to be more organized. A lot of time is wasted through disorganization. By
assigning time for every task and completing it as fast as possible there is a possibility of having
a lot of extra time to conduct physical exercises. The second way of reducing the effect of this
restraining force is to start performing simple exercises that take just around ten minutes. Such
simple exercises will also solve the problem of not having a gym near home because they do not
need a gym. For instance, a ten minute jog in the morning does not need one to be near gym.
To avoid taking cheap and unhealthy foods that reduce my physical fitness and expose
me to lifestyle diseases, the solution is to always leave home while full and also carry some food
to work. Being full during the day reduces the likelihood of developing an urge to take the fast
foods. The last restraining force of spending a lot of time on the internet at home can be ignored
because most that time is usually at night and, therefore, its reduction will not have a significant
impact on the amount of time that I spend doing physical exercises.

FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS 5
As this model analysis and discussed strategy shows, force field analysis allows one to
identify the exact factors that are hindering their personal change and the level of influence of
these factors. They can then determine the exact steps they need to take in order to counter the
hindering forces and arrive at the desired change outcome. The model is, therefore, important in
helping one invest their resources in a more strategic manner.
References

Burnes, B. (2017). Kurt Lewin (1890–1947): The Practical Theorist. The Palgrave Handbook of
Organizational Change Thinkers, 749-763.
Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Verplanken, B., Roy, D., & Whitmarsh, L. (2018). Cracks in the Wall: Habit Discontinuities as
Vehicles for Behaviour Change. In The Psychology of Habit (pp. 189-205). Springer,
Cham.