New study challenges 'pop psychology' myths about habits
By ditching 'pop psychology myths' about habits, we can better understand our habits and take more effective action, according to researchers at the University of Surrey.
Pop psychology tends to portray all stable behaviours as habitual, as well as implying that forming new habits will always lead to positive long-term change.
New analysis by Surrey researchers argues that a habit is simply a mental link between a situation (cue) and an action (response). When someone with a habit is in the situation, an unconscious urge prompts the action. However, whether this urge leads to habitual behaviour depends on other competing impulses that influence our actions.
Dr Benjamin Gardner, co-author and Reader in Psychology from the University of Surrey, said:
"Forming a habit means connecting a situation you often encounter with the action you usually take. These connections help by creating impulses that push us to do the usual action without thinking. But the pushes from habits are just one of many feelings we might have at any time.
"Impulses are like babies, each crying for our attention. We can only tend to one at a time. These impulses come from various sources – intentions, plans, emotions, and habits. We act according to whichever impulse demands our attention by crying the loudest at any given moment.
"Habit impulses usually cry the loudest, guiding us to do what we normally do, even when other impulses are vying for our attention. However, there are times when other impulses cry louder."
Other impulses can overrule your habits – like cold weather derailing your habitual morning run.
The paper points out that forming a new habit creates an association that can help keep you on the right track, but it does not ensure that a new behaviour will always stick.
Dr Phillippa Lally, co-author of the study and Senior Lecturer in Psychology from the University of Surrey, said:
"Think of someone who has developed a habit of eating a healthy breakfast every morning. One day, they wake up late, leave the house without having time for breakfast, and then grab a sugary snack on their commute.
"This single disruption can make them feel like they've failed, potentially leading them to abandon the healthy eating habit altogether. When trying to make a new behaviour stick, it's a good idea to form a habit and have a backup plan for dealing with setbacks, such as keeping healthy snacks on hand that you can quickly grab on busy mornings."
As for breaking bad habits, the Surrey researchers suggest several methods.
Dr Gardner explains:
"There are multiple ways to stop yourself from acting on your habits. Imagine you want to stop snacking in front of the TV. One way is to avoid the trigger - don't switch on the set. Another is to make it harder to act impulsively – not keeping snacks at home. Or, you could stop yourself when you feel the urge.
"While the underlying habit may remain, these strategies reduce the chances of ‘bad’ behaviours from occurring automatically."
Dr Lally adds:
"In principle, if you can't avoid your habit cues or make the behaviour more difficult, swapping out a bad habit for a good one is the next best strategy. It's much easier to do something than nothing, and as long as you're consistent, the new behaviour should become dominant over time, overpowering any impulses arising from your old habit."
[ENDS]
Dr Benjamin Gardner is available for interview, please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.
The full paper is available here.
By ditching 'pop psychology myths' about habits, we can better understand our habits and take more effective action, according to researchers at the University of Surrey.
Pop psychology tends to portray all stable behaviours as habitual, as well as implying that forming new habits will always lead to positive long-term change.
New analysis by Surrey researchers argues that a habit is simply a mental link between a situation (cue) and an action (response). When someone with a habit is in the situation, an unconscious urge prompts the action. However, whether this urge leads to habitual behaviour depends on other competing impulses that influence our actions.
Dr Benjamin Gardner, co-author and Reader in Psychology from the University of Surrey, said:
"Forming a habit means connecting a situation you often encounter with the action you usually take. These connections help by creating impulses that push us to do the usual action without thinking. But the pushes from habits are just one of many feelings we might have at any time.
"Impulses are like babies, each crying for our attention. We can only tend to one at a time. These impulses come from various sources – intentions, plans, emotions, and habits. We act according to whichever impulse demands our attention by crying the loudest at any given moment.
"Habit impulses usually cry the loudest, guiding us to do what we normally do, even when other impulses are vying for our attention. However, there are times when other impulses cry louder."
Other impulses can overrule your habits – like cold weather derailing your habitual morning run.
The paper points out that forming a new habit creates an association that can help keep you on the right track, but it does not ensure that a new behaviour will always stick.
Dr Phillippa Lally, co-author of the study and Senior Lecturer in Psychology from the University of Surrey, said:
"Think of someone who has developed a habit of eating a healthy breakfast every morning. One day, they wake up late, leave the house without having time for breakfast, and then grab a sugary snack on their commute.
"This single disruption can make them feel like they've failed, potentially leading them to abandon the healthy eating habit altogether. When trying to make a new behaviour stick, it's a good idea to form a habit and have a backup plan for dealing with setbacks, such as keeping healthy snacks on hand that you can quickly grab on busy mornings."
As for breaking bad habits, the Surrey researchers suggest several methods.
Dr Gardner explains:
"There are multiple ways to stop yourself from acting on your habits. Imagine you want to stop snacking in front of the TV. One way is to avoid the trigger - don't switch on the set. Another is to make it harder to act impulsively – not keeping snacks at home. Or, you could stop yourself when you feel the urge.
"While the underlying habit may remain, these strategies reduce the chances of ‘bad’ behaviours from occurring automatically."
Dr Lally adds:
"In principle, if you can't avoid your habit cues or make the behaviour more difficult, swapping out a bad habit for a good one is the next best strategy. It's much easier to do something than nothing, and as long as you're consistent, the new behaviour should become dominant over time, overpowering any impulses arising from your old habit."
[ENDS]
Dr Benjamin Gardner is available for interview, please contact mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk to arrange.
The full paper is available here.
JOURNAL
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
Social and Personality Psychology Compass
DOI
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
People
ARTICLE TITLE
What is habit and how can it be used to change real-world behaviour? Narrowing the theory-reality gap
What is habit and how can it be used to change real-world behaviour? Narrowing the theory-reality gap
Reports of 'death' of impulsivity as personality trait are likely exaggerated
CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HEADQUARTERS
We can all act on an impulse, with some seemingly doing it more often and others less. Psychologists have been studying impulsivity as a personality trait since the 1930s and have linked impulsivity to a variety of harmful behaviors, such as violence and excessive use of social media, as well as mental disorders, such as bipolar disorder and substance use disorder.
A study by a research team led by Dr. LUAN Shenghua from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has provided comprehensive evidence that impulsivity is a stable, measurable, and predictive personality trait.
The study, one of the largest in the field, disagrees with the pessimistic view that research on impulsivity is fraught with problems, including inconsistencies in its definition and a lack of reliable measurement tools.
It was published online in PNAS on June 3.
A total of 1,676 participants took part in the study. Each completed 48 impulsivity measures derived from 10 self-report scales and 10 behavioral tasks. The participants also reported the frequency of seven impulsivity-related behaviors, such as impulsive buying and social media use.
Using advanced psychometric methods, the researchers found a general factor of impulsivity, I, in this large-scale data. Factor I is similar to the general factor g in intelligence and represents the common component shared by a wide range of impulsivity measures.
According to the researchers, factor I was stable over time—in fact, it was the most stable of all measures over a three-month interval—and was good at predicting impulsivity-related behaviors, as evidenced by analysis using machine learning algorithms.
Based on their data and modeling results, the researchers further developed a new scale, the Adjustable Impulsivity Scale (AIMS), to measure impulsivity. AIMS has excellent psychometric properties that are largely retained in shorter versions and is quite effective with only 10 measurement items.
"These results show that impulsivity is a valid and useful psychological construct for differentiating people. To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of the death of impulsivity may have been greatly exaggerated, and this construct is still very much alive," said Dr. LUAN, corresponding author of the study.
The discovery of the general impulsivity factor I and the development of the new AIMS scale are the two most notable contributions of this study. They significantly advance the conceptualization and measurement of impulsivity and facilitate the application of impulsivity as a personality trait in both clinical and non-clinical contexts.
The study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Institute of Psychology of CAS.
JOURNAL
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Experimental study
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
People
ARTICLE TITLE
Impulsivity is a stable, measurable, and predictive psychological trait
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
3-Jun-2024
