Habit formation and behavior change

Within psychology, the term habit is most often used to refer to a process whereby situations prompt action automatically, through activation of mental situation-action associations acquired through prior performances. Unlike consciously intended behavior, which proceeds via a cognitively effortful reflective processing system, behavior that is directed by habit is regulated by an impulsive processing system, and so can be elicited with minimal cognitive effort, awareness, control, or intention. The habit formation process involves a gradual transferral of action initiation from the conscious attentional or motivational processes involved in reflective processing, to external cuing mechanisms characteristic of impulsive processing. Behavior thus becomes detached from motivational or volitional control, freeing finite cognitive resources for unfamiliar or otherwise more demanding tasks. Upon encountering associated situations, habitual tendencies dominate action regulation, and alternative actions become less readily accessible

On the base radical class for associative rings

The base radical class Lb (X) generated by a class X was introduced in [12]. It consists of those rings whose nonzero homomorphicimages have nonzero accessible subrings in X. When X is homomorphically closed, Lb(X) is the lower radical class defined by X, but otherwise X may not be contained in Lb(X). We prove that for a hereditary radical class R with semisimple class S(R), Lb(S(R)) is the class of strongly R-semisimple rings if and only if R is supernilpotent or subidempotent. A number of further examples of radical classes of the form Lb(X) are discussed

Habit formation and behaviour change

Within psychology, the term habit refers to a process whereby contexts prompt action automatically, through activation of mental context–action associations learned through prior performances. Habitual behavior is regulated by an impulsive process, and so can be elicited with minimal cognitive effort, awareness, control, or intention. When an initially goal-directed behavior becomes habitual, action initiation transfers from conscious motivational processes to context-cued impulse-driven mechanisms. Regulation of action becomes detached from motivational or volitional control. Upon encountering the associated context, the urge to enact the habitual behavior is spontaneously triggered and alternative behavioral responses become less cognitively accessible

Habit in exercise behavior

This chapter presents the benefits of exercise benefits. Stronger exercise habit is beneficial because it should increase the likelihood of frequent exercise, as is supported by the commonly observed association between self‐reported habit and exercise frequency. Having strongly formed exercise habits makes it less likely that people will seek out or be tempted by opposing unhealthy alternative behavioral options. The formation of exercise habits also has the benefit that it is less cognitively demanding than non‐habitual exercise. The chapter explores how exercise habits are formed. Helping people to form exercise habits requires encouraging people to exercise regularly and in the same contexts, so that habit associations develop. Factors can impact habit formation in several ways: by increasing or maintaining the motivation to become physically active, by aiding the translation of motivation into repeated action, or by strengthening the reinforcing value of each repetition on the formation of cue‐behavior associations

A matter of habit: Recognizing the multiple roles of habit in health behaviour

Much research has explored the influence of habit on a multitude of health behaviours, including hand hygiene, medication adherence, dietary consumption, physical activity, and sun protection (for a review, see Gardner, 2015). Such studies have implicitly addressed similar underlying research questions, which can broadly be summarized as: ‘To what extent could Behaviour X be determined by habit?’ If a behaviour is shown to be, or have the potential to be, habitually enacted, this will have important implications for behaviour modification. Interventions that support adoption of that behaviour might fruitfully promote context-consistent performance so that cue–response associations may develop (Lally, Van Jaarsveld, Potts, & Wardle, 2010), while interventions that aim to discontinue habitual behaviour might focus on dismantling such associations or blocking their enactment (Lally & Gardner, 2013). In this editorial, however, we argue that a more comprehensive understanding of habitual action requires moving beyond asking only to what extent a behaviour may be habitual, and towards exploring which aspects of a behaviour could be regulated by habit

How we are misinterpreting physical activity intention - behavior relations and what to do about it

Background: Studies of the physical activity intention-behavior gap, and factors that may moderate the gap (e.g., habit, perceived behavioral control), can inform physical activity promotion efforts. Yet, these studies typically apply linear modeling procedures, and so conclusions rely on linearity and homoscedasticity assumptions, which may not hold. Methods: We modelled and plotted physical activity intention-behavior associations and the moderation effects of habit using simulated data based on (a) normal distributions with no shared variance, (b) correlated parameters with normal distribution, and (c) realistically correlated and non-normally distributed parameters. Results: In the uncorrelated and correlated normal distribution datasets, no violations were unmet, and the moderation effects applied across the entire data range. However, because in the realistic dataset, few people who engaged in physical activity behavior had low intention scores, the intention-behavior association was non-linear, resulting in inflated linear moderation estimations of habit. This finding was replicated when tested with intention-behavior moderation of perceived behavioral control. Conclusions: Comparisons of the three scenarios illustrated how an identical correlation coefficient may mask different types of intention-behavior association and moderation effects. These findings highlight the risk of misinterpreting tests of the intention-behavior gap and its moderators for physical activity due to unfounded statistical assumptions. The previously well-documented moderating effects of habit, whereby the impact of intention on behavior weakens as habit strength increases, may be based on statistical byproducts of unmet model assumptions. © 2019 The Author(s)

‘Habitually deciding’ or ‘habitually doing’? A response to Hagger (2019)

Hagger (2019) offers an insightful synthesis of recent theoretical and empirical developments in understanding of habit and its relevance to physical activity. This commentary extends coverage of one such advance, namely the distinction between two manifestations of habit in physical activity: habitually ‘deciding’ to engage in activity (i.e. habitual instigation), and habitually ‘doing’ the activity (habitual execution). We explore the rationale for this distinction and argue that most contemporary theory and evidence around habitual physical activity – and by extension, Hagger's review – implicitly focuses on instigation and neglects execution. We offer hypotheses around the potential roles that habitual execution may play in physical activity. Broadening the scope of inquiry within the field to more fully encompass habitual performance would achieve a more comprehensive and informative account that incorporates concepts of skill acquisition and mastery. © 201

The measurement of habit

In this chapter, we define habit as the process by which a person’s behaviour is influenced from a prompt to act based on well-learned associations between cues and behaviours (Gardner, 2015a; Rebar, 2017; Wood & Neal, 2016; Wood & Rünger, 2016). Habit is the process that determines behaviour, and habitual behaviour is the output of that process (Rebar, Gardner, & Verplanken, 2018). Whereas the habit process is automatic and spontaneously elicited, habitual behaviour can be inhibited through exertions of self-control or other motivational influences, which suppress the translation of impulse into action (Gardner, 2015b). For example, people with strong habits to eat junk food when stressed will tend to act on their temptation. However, if there are internal or external influences also acting on their behaviour, say for example a goal to avoid junk food, with vigilant monitoring, they may be able to inhibit the behaviour (Quinn, Pascoe, Wood, & Neal, 2010). Several areas of the habit field are subject to debate. Controversy surrounds whether people can be aware of their habits, how habit is distinct from behaviour frequency, and whether and how the influence of habit might be disentangled from that of other forms of motivation. At the core of these controversies are issues of measurement, specifically the construct validity of habit measures; that is, are existing measures adequate for capturing the habit process? This chapter aims to meet these challenges

Habit Facilitates Actioning Sun Protective Behavior Intentions

Skin cancer is highly burdensome, but preventable with regular engagement in sun protective behaviors. Despite modest effectiveness of sun-protective behavior promotional efforts thus far, rates of engagement in sun-protective behaviors remain low. More is needed to understand motivation for using sunscreen, wearing sun-protective clothing, and seeking shade. This study tested whether the links of intention and habit strength with behavior differed between sun-protective behaviors. It was hypothesized that sun protective behaviors would be predicted by both habit and intention and that intention-behavior associations would be weaker for people with stronger habits. Participants residing in Queensland, Australia (N = 203; 75.96% female; M age = 37.16 years, SD = 14.67) self-reported their intentions and habit strength about sun-protective behavior for the next 7 days. Participants were followed-up 7 days later to self-report their sun-protective behavior. Multilevel modeling, accounting for nesting of multiple behaviors within-person, revealed that habit moderated the intention strength–behavior association and this moderation effect did not differ as a function of which behavior was being predicted. People with strong or moderate habit strength tended to act in line with their intentions; however, for people with very weak habits (2 SD </p

Mental health and well-being concerns of fly-in fly-out workers and their partners in Australia: A qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: Fly-in fly-out (FIFO) work involves commuting long distances to the worksite and living in provided accommodation for 1-4 weeks while on shift. While the potentially detrimental impact of FIFO work on the health and well-being of workers has been documented, little attention has been paid to how workers, or their partners, cope with this impact. This study sought to investigate how workers and their partners negotiate the impact of FIFO on their mental health and well-being. DESIGN: The study design was qualitative. FIFO workers and partners responded to open-ended questions on concerns about the FIFO lifestyle and the support they use. SETTING: Australian FIFO workers and partners responded to the questions via email. PARTICIPANTS: Participants were 34 FIFO workers (25 men,Mage=41 years) and 26 partners of FIFO workers (26 women,Mage=40 years). RESULTS: Participant-validated thematic analysis generated three main themes: managing multiple roles, impact on mental health and well-being, and social support needs. Results revealed difficulties in adjusting between the responsibilities of perceptually distinct on-shift and off-shift lives, and managing potential psychological distance that develops while workers are on site. Participants emphasised the importance of maintaining quality communication and support from family members. Workers and partners attempted to maintain mental health and well-being by regularly engaging with support networks, although many felt organisational support was tokenistic, stigmatised or lacking. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations for enhancing support provided by FIFO organisations are offered. In particular, organisations should emphasise the importance of good mental health and well-being, maintain transparency regarding potential challenges of FIFO lifestyles, and offer professional support for managing multiple social roles and effective communication