Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
BY force of habit
Dr. Benjamin gardner5th April 2016 Department of Psychology
Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience
Unlocking the secrets of habits and behaviour change in relation to ehealth
What is habit,and how does it form?
What is ‘habit’?
3
Habits versus behaviourGardner (2015)- Behaviour:- ‘anything a person does’- Behaving = doing
- Habit: - ‘a process whereby exposure to a cue
automatically generates an impulse to act, based on learned cue-action associations’
- Habitual behaviour:- ‘any action that is controlled by habit’
Automaticity and frequencyGardner (2012)
Frequent Infrequent
Automatic
Frequent habitual
behaviour
Infrequent habitual
behaviour
Reflective
Frequent non-habitual
behaviour
Infrequent non-habitual
behaviour
- Habitual behaviour proceeds in the absence of:- Awareness
- Conscious control- Intention
- Mental effort(Bargh, 1994)
‘Checking your smartphone’ as a habitual behaviour
- Repetitive-Automatic response to notifications, or to boredom
-Frustration of impulse to check causes agitation- Can be irritating – but you do it anyway
(Oulasvirta et al, 2011)
How long does it take for habit to form?Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts & Wardle (2010)
• 96 participants– Performed a new healthy eating, drinking or
exercise behaviour...– Once a day, every day
• Each day, participants reported– automaticity of behaviour (i.e. habit)– whether bhvr performed
• Participants tracked over 12 weeks
How long does it take for habit to form?Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts & Wardle (2010)
• Median time for habit to peak = 66 days
• (NOT 21 days!)
• Range: 18-254 days
• Simpler actions tended to become habitual quicker
How long does it take for habit to form?Lally, van Jaarsveld, Potts & Wardle (2010)
Why does habit matter?
When habits and intentions conflict…Neal, Wood, Wu & Kurlander (2011)• 105 cinema-goers
• ‘Personality study’
• Watched and rated 15mins of trailers
• Given either fresh or stale (1 week old) popcorn
• Stale popcorn rated as less pleasant than fresh popcorn
Habits override conscious preferences
If habits override intentions…Lally & Gardner (2013)• Making ‘good habits’ may ‘lock in’
desirable behaviours
• Forming habits could help to maintain behaviour change
• Changing conscious motivation may be insufficient to break ‘bad habits’
• Need to break cue-response link
Habit and behaviour change:
How to form new habits
Repeat the behaviour consistently in the same context
Habit-formation adviceLally & Gardner (2013)
Stages of habit-formationLally & Gardner (2013)
The COM-B frameworkMichie, van Stralen & West (2011)
Initiation vs maintenance motivation
InitiationGetting behaviour up and runningDetermined by appeal of expected outcomes
MaintenanceContinuing to do the behaviourDetermined by satisfaction with actual outcomes
If outcomes not attained, or not as favourable as expected, likely to disengage
Principles of habit formationGardner et al (2012)
1) Make it easy
Brady (2015)
Principles of habit formation
1) Make it easy
Principles of habit formation
2) Capitalise on intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation:•A desire to do something for pleasure or satisfaction inherent in the activity
Extrinsic motivation:•A desire to do something in response to external pressures, or to achieve external rewards (e.g. money)
Principles of habit formation
People who are intrinsically motivated to be physically active:
•Have stronger intentions to be active
•Are more likely to initiate physical activity
•Are more likely to maintain physical activity
•Tend to have stronger physical activity habits (Gardner & Lally, 2013)
2) Capitalise on intrinsic motivation
Principles of habit formation
3) Make it (intrinsically) rewarding
Intrinsic rewards:•Non-tangible rewards intrinsic to the individual receiving them•e.g. satisfaction, accomplishment, social acceptance, praise
Extrinsic rewards:•Tangible rewards external to the individual•e.g. money, material possessions
3) Make it (intrinsically) rewarding
Principles of habit formation
• Behaviour change experience should be rewarding• Intrinsic rewards are those that promote:– Autonomy– Competence– Social connectedness
4) Track your progress
Principles of habit formation
• Monitoring behaviour is the most effective technique for changing behaviour (Michie et al, 2009)
• Positive feedback delivers an intrinsic reward
5) Choose appropriate cues
Principles of habit formation
• Frequent habitual behaviour depends on frequently encountering cues– e.g. Prior action? Location? Time of day?
• Choose cues thematically related to behaviour– e.g. flossing after brushing (Judah, Gardner & Aunger, 2013)
A word or twoabout breaking habits
How to break habits?
Changing behaviour, or breaking habit?
•Behaviour may be changed by(a) avoiding cues(b) inhibiting habit impulse(c) overwriting habits
•(a) & (b) behaviour change only•(c) behaviour and habit change
How to break habits?
• Behaviour change only can risk relapse due to ‘dormant habits’ (Gardner, 2015)
• ’Dormant habits’ = long-held habits reactivated by re-exposure to cues
• Overwriting habits requires(a) identifying cues to existing habits(b) consistently repeating new responses to cues
Making habits: Summary
Principles for making habits- Make it easy- Capitalise on intrinsic motivation- Make it intrinsically rewarding- Track progress- Choose appropriate cues / reminders
Principles for breaking habits- Avoid cues- Inhibit responses- Develop new responses to cues
THANK [email protected]@drbengardner
