Habits | Health | Behavior

3 things to know when you want to create a habit according to a behavioral study

Scholars suggest what the drivers of a habit formation are

Takeaway

• A strategy to create a habit involves behavioral repetition, associated context cues and rewards
• The time span to create a habit can change among individuals
• Successful habit learning depends also on the presence of stable context cues
• Habits form most readily when specific behaviors are rewarded that habits form best when rewards are uncertain

The problem with habits is that most of the time is not difficult to start a new habit, some behavior change happens, but it is difficult to maintain it over time

Have you ever wanted to read more or to increase your sleep-time? Have you ever wished to create a habit?

The problem with habits is that most of the time is not difficult to start a new habit, some behavior change happens, but it is difficult to maintain it over time. Scholars, as Wendy Wood and David Neal (here you can find their article), have found that most of the times, experiments’ participants gave up smoking or lost their weight, in the first place. However, once the study is over, old patterns reemerged, and the new behaviors waned over time. It is possible to address this responsibility to people’s limited willpower. Research has shown that people habitually consume food that they neither want or even like.

The strategies proposed by scholars are related to behavioral repetition, associated context cues and rewards.

However, authors suggest that just as bad habits impede behavior change, good habits can promote it. Good habits ensure that people continue to act in healthy ways without constant struggle. As an example, chocolate lovers who had formed a habit to eat carrots continued to make the healthy carrot choice even when chocolate became available.

The strategies proposed by scholars are related to behavioral repetition, associated context cues and rewards.

Scholars surprisingly suggest that habits form best when rewards are powerful enough to motivate behavior but are uncertain

Habit formation interventions create opportunities for frequent repetition of specific responses, but there is no single formula for success. Some people need just 18 days of repetition, other individuals over 200 days. Scholars suggest that longer interventions with frequent repetitions (vs. shorter interventions, with fewer repetitions) tend to be most successful because they are most likely to lead to the formation of strong habits.

Successful habit learning depends also on the presence of stable context cues. These can include times of day, locations, prior action in sequence, or even the presence of other people. People can be encouraged to create plans or implementation intentions, to perform a behavior in a given context. Forming implementation plans increases the likelihood that people will carry out their intentions. Intervention programs also create cues by piggybacking or tying new healthy behavior to an existing habit. The habitual response can then serve as a cue to trigger the performance of the new behavior.

People tend to repeat behavior that produce positive consequences or reduce negative ones. Positive consequences include the payoff of a behavior. This can be an intrinsic payoff (the taste of a sweet dessert), but it can also include an extrinsic payoff, such as monetary incentives or others’ approval. Habits form most readily when specific behaviors are rewarded, especially during the initial stages of habit formation. Only rewards that promote the repetition of specific actions contribute to habit formation.

Scholars surprisingly suggest that habits form best when rewards are powerful enough to motivate behavior but are uncertain in the sense that they do not always occur. Predictable rewards drive short-term behavior changes, but they do not establish habits. Then the rewards stop, people usually quit the behavior. People quit because predictable rewards can signal that a behavior is difficult and not worth performing without the reward.

The only way to agree or disagree with Wendy Wood and David Neal is to start that new book you have on the shelf and follow these simple three steps: behavioral repetition, associated context cues and rewards. Good habit!