{{short description|Routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously}} {{other uses}} thumb | right | Good Habits Poster A '''habit''' (or '''wont''', the original word in English) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite book|last1=Butler|first1=Gillian|last2=Hope|first2=Tony|last3=Grey|first3=Nick|title=Managing Your Mind: The Mental Fitness Guide|publisher=Oxford University Press|orig-year=1995|edition=3rd|year=2018}} |2={{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/habit|title=Definition of ''Habit''|website=Merriam Webster Dictionary|access-date=August 29, 2008}} |3={{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/habituation |title=Definition of ''Habituation''|website=Merriam Webster Dictionary|access-date=August 29, 2008}} }}</ref>
The concept of habit has been widely discussed in psychology and philosophy, particularly in the works of William James, who described habits as the "enormous fly-wheel of society."<ref>{{cite book |last=James |first=William |title=The Principles of Psychology |year=1890 |publisher=Henry Holt and Company |location=New York |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57628 |access-date=2026-04-01}}</ref>
A 1903 paper in the ''American Journal of Psychology'' defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, [as] a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience."<ref>{{cite journal |title = Habit |last = Andrews |first = B. R. |journal = The American Journal of Psychology |issn = 0002-9556 |volume = 14 |issue = 2 |year = 1903 |pages = 121–49 |doi = 10.2307/1412711 |jstor = 1412711}}</ref> Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed by persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks. Habits are sometimes compulsory.<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/habituation |title=Definition of ''Habituation''|website=Merriam Webster Dictionary|access-date=August 29, 2008}} |2={{cite web | title=Habituation | website=Animal Behavior Online | url=http://www.animalbehavioronline.com/habituation.html | ref={{sfnref | Animal Behavior Online}} | access-date=August 29, 2008}} }}</ref> A 2002 daily experience study by habit researcher Wendy Wood and her colleagues found that approximately 43% of daily behaviors are performed out of habit.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Wood | first1=Wendy | last2=Quinn | first2=Jeffrey M. | last3=Kashy | first3=Deborah A. | title=Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. | journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | publisher=American Psychological Association (APA) | volume=83 | issue=6 | year=2002 | issn=1939-1315 | doi=10.1037/0022-3514.83.6.1281 | pages=1281–1297| pmid=12500811 | bibcode=2002JPSP...83.1281W }}</ref> New behaviours can become automatic through the process of '''habit formation'''. Habits can be beneficial, such as regular exercise or healthy eating, or detrimental, such as smoking or procrastination.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=Wendy |title=Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2019}}</ref> Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioural patterns that humans repeat become imprinted in neural pathways, but it is possible to form new habits through repetition.<ref>{{cite web|last= Rosenthal|first= Norman|title= Habit Formation|url= https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/habit-formation|website= Psychology Today|access-date= November 30, 2011}}</ref>
In modern psychology, habits are often defined as learned behaviors that become automatic responses to specific cues in stable contexts.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lally |first=Phillippa |last2=van Jaarsveld |first2=Cornelia H. M. |last3=Potts |first3=Henry W. W. |last4=Wardle |first4=Jane |title=How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world |journal=European Journal of Social Psychology |year=2010 |volume=40 |issue=6 |pages=998–1009 |doi=10.1002/ejsp.674|hdl=10400.12/3364 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
When behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. This increases the automaticity of the behavior in that context.<ref name="g2007_Wood_Neal">{{cite journal | last1=Wood | first1=Wendy | last2=Neal | first2=David T. | title=A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. | journal=Psychological Review | publisher=American Psychological Association (APA) | volume=114 | issue=4 | year=2007 | issn=1939-1471 | doi=10.1037/0033-295x.114.4.843 | pages=843–863| pmid=17907866 | s2cid=7468475 }}</ref> Features of an automatic behavior are all or some of: efficiency, lack of awareness, unintentionality, and uncontrollability.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bargh|first=J. A.|year=1994|chapter=The 4 horsemen of automaticity: Awareness, intention, efficiency, and control in social cognition|editor-last1=Wyer|editor-first1=R. S.|editor-last2=Srull|editor-first2=T. K.|title=Handbook of social cognition|volume=1: Basic processes|pages=1–40|location=Hove|publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers}}</ref>
== History == The concept of habit can be traced back to ancient Greek philosophy, particularly in the works of Aristotle, who emphasized the role of repeated actions in forming character and virtue.<ref>{{cite book |last=Aristotle |title=Nicomachean Ethics |translator=Terence Irwin |year=1999 |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company |location=Indianapolis |isbn=978-0872204645}}</ref>
The word habit derives from the Latin words {{lang|la|habere}}, which means "have, consist of," and {{lang|la|habitus}}, which means "condition, or state of being." It also is derived from the French word {{lang|fr|habit}} ({{IPA|fr|abi}}), which means clothes.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/habit|title=Definition of ''Habit''|website=Merriam Webster Dictionary|access-date=August 29, 2008}}</ref> In the {{CE|13th century}}, the word habit first just referred to clothing. The meaning then progressed to the more common use of the word, which is "acquired mode of behavior."<ref name=":0" />
[[File:William James b1842c.jpg|right|thumb|250px|"Habit is...the enormous fly-wheel of society, its most precious conservative agent...It is well for the world that in most of us, by the age of thirty, the character has set like plaster, and will never soften again."<ref>{{cite book | last = James | first = William | author-link = William James | title = The Principles of Psychology | orig-year = 1890 | date = 1952 | series = Great Books of the Western World | volume = 53 | edition = 4th printing | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. | location = Chicago | isbn = 0-85229-531-6 | oclc = 36980410 | page=79}}</ref> - William James, ''The Principles of Psychology'']]
In 1890, William James, a pioneering philosopher and psychologist, addressed the subject of habit in his book, ''The Principles of Psychology''. James viewed habit as natural tendency in order to navigate life. To him, "living creatures... are bundles of habits" and those habits that have "an innate tendency are called instincts."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|publisher=Project Gutenberg|title=The Principles of Psychology|first=William|last=James|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57628/57628-h/57628-h.htm#Page_104|access-date=2021-07-07}}</ref> James also explains how habits can govern our lives. He states, "Any sequence of mental action which has been frequently repeated tends to perpetuate itself; so that we find ourselves automatically prompted to think, feel, or do what we have been before accustomed to think, feel, or do, under like circumstances, without any consciously formed purpose, or anticipated of result."<ref name=":1" />
Habit played an important role in the phenomenology of French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty. For Merleau-Ponty, habit was a form of embodied consciousness.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Moya | first=Patricia | title=Habit and embodiment in Merleau-Ponty | journal=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience | volume=8 | date=2014-07-25 | page=542 | issn=1662-5161 | pmid=25120448 | pmc=4110438 | doi=10.3389/fnhum.2014.00542 | doi-access=free}}</ref>
In the early 20th century, Ivan Pavlov developed the theory of classical conditioning, demonstrating how repeated associations between stimuli could produce habitual responses.<ref>{{cite book |last=Pavlov |first=Ivan P. |title=Conditioned Reflexes: An Investigation of the Physiological Activity of the Cerebral Cortex |year=1927 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |url=https://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Pavlov/ |access-date=2026-04-05}}</ref>
In the mid-20th century, B. F. Skinner further developed behaviorist theory through operant conditioning, showing how reinforcement and punishment influence the formation of habitual behavior.<ref>{{cite book |last=Skinner |first=B. F. |title=The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis |year=1938 |publisher=Appleton-Century |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.215563 |access-date=2026-04-05}}</ref>
In recent decades, neuroscience research has identified brain regions such as the basal ganglia as central to the formation and maintenance of habits.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Graybiel |first=Ann M. |title=Habits, rituals, and the evaluative brain |journal=Annual Review of Neuroscience |year=2008 |volume=31 |pages=359–387 |doi=10.1146/annurev.neuro.29.051605.112851}}</ref>
== Formation == Habit formation is the process by which a behavior, through regular repetition, becomes automatic or habitual. In psychology, automaticity refers to the ability to perform behaviors with little conscious effort or attention after sufficient practice.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bargh |first=John A. |last2=Chartrand |first2=Tanya L. |year=1999 |title=The Unbearable Automaticity of Being |journal=American Psychologist |volume=54 |issue=7 |pages=462–479 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.462}}</ref> This is modeled as an increase in automaticity with the number of repetitions, up to an asymptote.<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{cite book|last=Hull|first=C.L.|date=1943|title=Principles of behavior: An introduction to behavior theory|location=New York|publisher=Appleton-Century-Crofts}} |2={{cite book|last=Hull|first=C.L.|date=1951|title=Essentials of behavior|location=Westport, Conn.|publisher=Greenwood Press}} }}</ref><ref name="Lally">{{cite journal | last1=Lally | first1=Phillippa | last2=van Jaarsveld | first2=Cornelia H. M. | last3=Potts | first3=Henry W. W. | last4=Wardle | first4=Jane | title=How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world | journal=European Journal of Social Psychology | publisher=Wiley | volume=40 | issue=6 | date=2009 | issn=0046-2772 | doi=10.1002/ejsp.674 | pages=998–1009| hdl=10400.12/3364 | s2cid=15466675 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> This process of habit formation can be slow. Research has shown that consistent contexts, such as performing a behavior in the same location or at the same time each day, significantly increase the likelihood of habit formation.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wood |first=Wendy |last2=Neal |first2=David T. |year=2007 |title=A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface |journal=Psychological Review |volume=114 |issue=4 |pages=843–863 |doi=10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.843}}</ref> Lally ''et al.'' found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days.<ref name="Lally" />
Neuroscientific research has shown that the basal ganglia play a key role in the development and execution of habitual behaviors.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Graybiel |first=Ann M. |year=2008 |title=Habits, rituals, and the evaluative brain |journal=Annual Review of Neuroscience |volume=31 |pages=359–387 |doi=10.1146/annurev.neuro.29.051605.112851}}</ref>
There are four main components to habit formation: the context cue, craving, behavioral repetition, and the reward.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Wood | first1=Wendy | last2=Neal | first2=David T. | title=Healthy through habit: Interventions for initiating & maintaining health behavior change | journal=Behavioral Science & Policy | publisher=Project MUSE | volume=2 | issue=1 | year=2016 | issn=2379-4615 | doi=10.1353/bsp.2016.0008 | pages=71–83| s2cid=78117192 }}</ref> The context cue can be a prior action, time of day, location, or anything that triggers the habitual behavior. This could be anything that one associates with that habit, and upon which one will automatically let a habitual behavior begin. The cue leads to a craving or desire. The habit loop model, consisting of cue, routine, and reward, has been widely popularized in behavioral science and habit research.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duhigg |first=Charles |year=2012 |title=The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0812981605}}</ref> The craving is the motivational force behind the habit. You don’t crave the habit itself; you crave the outcome you believe it will bring.<ref>Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and Business (pp.1-60). Random House.</ref> The behavior is the actual habit that one exhibits, and the reward, such as a positive feeling, reinforces the "habit loop".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Duhigg |first1=Charles |title=Habits: How They Form And How To Break Them |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/147192599/habits-how-they-form-and-how-to-break-them |website=NPR Fresh Air PodCast |date=5 March 2012 |publisher=NPR |access-date=16 January 2021}}</ref> A habit may initially be triggered by a goal, but over time that goal becomes less necessary and the habit becomes more automatic. Intermittent or uncertain rewards have been found to be particularly effective in promoting habit learning.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417|title=Psychology of Habit|year=2016|last1=Wood|first1=Wendy|last2=Rünger|first2=Dennis|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|volume=67|pages=289–314|pmid=26361052|s2cid=8821136 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
A variety of digital tools, such as online or mobile apps, support habit formation. For example, Habitica uses gamification, implementing strategies found in video games to real-life tasks by adding rewards such as experience and gold.<ref>{{cite conference | last1=Deterding | first1=Sebastian | last2=Sicart | first2=Miguel | last3=Nacke | first3=Lennart | last4=O'Hara | first4=Kenton | last5=Dixon | first5=Dan | title=CHI '11 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems | chapter=Gamification. using game-design elements in non-gaming contexts | publisher=ACM | publication-place=New York, N.Y. | date=7 May 2011 | pages=2425–2428 | doi=10.1145/1979742.1979575 | isbn=9781450302685 }}</ref> However, a review of such tools suggests most are poorly designed with respect to theory and fail to support the development of automaticity.<ref>{{multiref2 |1={{Cite Q|Q61929041|author=Stawarz, K.|author2=Cox, A. L.|author2-link=Anna Cox|author3=Blandford, A.}} |2={{cite conference | last1=Stawarz | first1=Katarzyna | last2=Cox | first2=Anna L. |author2-link=Anna Cox| last3=Blandford | first3=Ann | title=Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems | chapter=Beyond Self-Tracking and Reminders | publisher=ACM | publication-place=New York, N.Y., U.S.A. | date=18 April 2015 | pages=2653–2662 | doi=10.1145/2702123.2702230| isbn=978-1-4503-3145-6 }} }}</ref>
Shopping habits are particularly vulnerable to change at "major life moments" like graduation, marriage, the birth of the first child, moving to a new home, and divorce. Some stores use purchase data to try to detect these events and take advantage of the marketing opportunity.<ref name="think">{{cite web|url=https://think.kera.org/2012/03/14/habits-life-and-business/|title=Habits, Life, and Business - Think|website=Kera|date=2012-03-14}}</ref>
Some habits are known as "keystone habits," and these influence the formation of other habits. For example, identifying as the type of person who takes care of their body and is in the habit of exercising regularly, can also influence eating better and using credit cards less. In business, safety can be a keystone habit that influences other habits that result in greater productivity.<ref name="think" />
A recent study by Adriaanse ''et al.'' found that habits mediate the relationship between self-control and unhealthy snack consumption.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Adriaanse|first1=Marieke A.|last2=Kroese|first2=Floor M.|last3=Gillebaart|first3=Marleen|last4=Ridder|first4=De|last5=D|first5=Denise T.|date=2014|title=Effortless inhibition: habit mediates the relation between self-control and unhealthy snack consumption|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|language=en|volume=5|pages=444|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00444|pmid=24904463|pmc=4032877|issn=1664-1078|doi-access=free }}</ref> The results of the study empirically demonstrate that high self-control may influence the formation of habits and in turn affect behavior.
== Goals == The habit–goal interface or interaction is constrained by the particular manner in which habits are learned and represented in memory. Specifically, the associative learning underlying habits is characterized by the slow, incremental accrual of information over time in procedural memory.<ref name="g2007_Wood_Neal" /> Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory responsible for storing learned skills and habits<ref>{{cite journal |last=Squire |first=Larry R. |year=2004 |title=Memory systems of the brain: A brief history and current perspective |journal=Neurobiology of Learning and Memory |volume=82 |issue=3 |pages=171–177 |doi=10.1016/j.nlm.2004.06.005}}</ref> Habits can either benefit or hurt the goals a person sets for themselves.
Goals guide habits by providing the initial outcome-oriented motivation for response repetition. In this sense, habits are often a trace of past goal pursuit.<ref name="g2007_Wood_Neal" /> Although, when a habit forces one action, but a conscious goal pushes for another action, an oppositional context occurs.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schacter|last2=Gilbert|last3=Wegner|title=Psychology|edition=2nd|year=2011|location=New York|publisher=Worth Publishers}}</ref> Research on self-regulation suggests that conflicts between habits and goals are common, particularly when automatic behaviors compete with deliberate intentions.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Baumeister |first=Roy F. |last2=Vohs |first2=Kathleen D. |last3=Tice |first3=Dianne M. |year=2007 |title=The strength model of self-control |journal=Current Directions in Psychological Science |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=351–355 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00534.x}}</ref> When the habit prevails over the conscious goal, a capture error has taken place.
Behavior prediction is also derived from goals. Behavior prediction acknowledges the likelihood that a habit will form, but in order to form that habit, a goal must have been initially present. The influence of goals on habits is one of the reasons that makes habits different from other automatic processes in the mind.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Neal|first1=D.|last2=Wood|first2=W.|last3=Labrecque|first3=J.|last4=Lally|first4=P.|year=2011|title=How do habits guide behavior? perceived and actual triggers of habits in daily life|journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology|volume=48|issue=2 |pages=492–498|doi=10.1016/j.jesp.2011.10.011 |s2cid=11205337 |url=https://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/neal.wood.labrecque.lally.2012_001_How_do_habits_guide_behavior.pdf}}</ref>
== Nervousness == Some habits are '''nervous habits'''. Nervous habits are often classified as body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs), which involve repetitive self-directed actions such as nail-biting or hair pulling.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Stein |first=Dan J. |last2=Grant |first2=Jon E. |year=2010 |title=Trichotillomania, skin picking, and stereotypic movement disorder: Toward DSM-V |journal=Depression and Anxiety |volume=27 |issue=6 |pages=611–626 |doi=10.1002/da.20679}}</ref> These include nail-biting, stammering, sniffling, and banging the head. They are symptoms of an emotional state and conditions of anxiety, insecurity, inferiority, and tension. Nervous habits are commonly associated with anxiety disorders and may serve as coping mechanisms for managing stress or emotional tension.<ref>{{cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders |edition=5th |year=2013 |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0890425558}}</ref> These habits are often formed at a young age and may be due to a need for attention. Many nervous habits begin in childhood and may persist into adulthood if they become reinforced over time.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Koblenzer |first=Caroline S. |year=1998 |title=Psychocutaneous disease |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |volume=38 |issue=5 |pages=799–808 |doi=10.1016/S0190-9622(98)70420-7}}</ref> When trying to overcome a nervous habit, it is important to resolve the cause of the nervousness rather than the symptom which is a habit itself.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Payne, Arthur Frank|title=The Psychology of Nervous Habits|journal= American Journal of Orthodontics and Oral Surgery|issue= 4|date=April 1, 1939|volume=25|pages= 324–29 |doi=10.1016/S0096-6347(39)90328-5}}</ref> Anxiety is a disorder characterized by excessive and unexpected worry that negatively impacts individuals' daily life and routines.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://cmha.ca/mental-health/understanding-mental-illness/anxiety-disorders|title=Anxiety Disorders - CMHA National|work=CMHA National|access-date=2018-02-08|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Undesirable habits == A bad habit is an undesirable behavior pattern. Common examples of individual habits include procrastination, fidgeting, overspending, and nail-biting.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Breaking Bad Habits |author=Suzanne LeVert, Gary R. McClain |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-02-863986-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QYynTz-w-LQC |publisher=Alpha Books}}</ref> The sooner one recognizes these bad habits, the easier it is to fix them.<ref name=Murdock>{{cite journal|last=Murdock|first=Katharine|title=The Psychology of Habit|journal=The American Journal of Nursing|volume=19|number=7 & 8|date=April–May 1919|pages=503–506, 597–600|doi=10.2307/3406067 |jstor=3405395 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/3405395.pdf}}</ref> Rather than merely attempting to eliminate a bad habit, it may be more productive to seek to replace it with a healthier coping mechanism.<ref>{{Cite news|first=James|last=Clear|url=https://jamesclear.com/how-to-break-a-bad-habit|title=How to Break a Bad Habit (and Replace It With a Good One)|date=2013-05-13|work=James Clear|access-date=2018-02-08|language=en-US}}</ref> Behavioral change research suggests that modifying environmental cues and reinforcement patterns can significantly improve the success of habit change.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Verplanken |first=Bas |last2=Wood |first2=Wendy |year=2006 |title=Interventions to break and create consumer habits |journal=Journal of Public Policy & Marketing |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=90–103 |doi=10.1509/jppm.25.1.90}}</ref> Undesirable habits may also be shared at a communal level: for example, there are many shared habits of consumer behaviour.
=== Will and intention === A key factor in distinguishing a bad habit from an addiction or mental disease is willpower. If a person can easily control the behavior, then it is a habit.<ref>{{cite book |title=Diseases of the Will: Alcohol and the Dilemmas of Freedom |last=Valverde |first=Mariana |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-64469-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kl5ugmvDgH0C |chapter=Disease or Habit? Alcoholism and the Exercise of Freedom |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/diseasesofwillal00valv }}</ref> In clinical psychology, addiction is typically characterized by impaired control over behavior and continued use despite negative consequences.<ref>{{cite book |title=Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders |edition=5th |year=2013 |publisher=American Psychiatric Association |location=Washington, DC |isbn=978-0890425558}}</ref> Implementation intentions can override the negative effect of bad habits, but seem to act by temporarily subduing rather than eliminating those habits.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1002/(SICI)1099-0992(199908/09)29:5/6<591::AID-EJSP948>3.0.CO;2-H |url=http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/62002770/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105190009/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/62002770/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 January 2013 |title=Good intentions, bad habits, and effects of forming implementation intentions on healthy eating |journal=European Journal of Social Psychology |volume=29 |issue=5–6 |pages=591–604 |date=21 Jun 1999 |author=Bas Verplanken, Suzanne Faes|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
=== Elimination === Many techniques exist for removing established bad habits, for example ''withdrawal of reinforcers'': identifying and removing factors that trigger and reinforce the habit.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-0-440-15413-6 |title=Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No |author=Herbert Fensterheim, Jean Baer |year=1975 |publisher=Dell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aog4MHedR-kC}}</ref> The basal ganglia appears to remember the context that triggers a habit, and can revive habits if triggers reappear.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/MIT-explains-why-bad-habits-are-hard-to-break/2100-11395_3-5902850.html|title=MIT explains why bad habits are hard to break|publisher=CBS Interactive|work=CNET}}</ref> Even after a habit appears to be eliminated, it may re-emerge when environmental cues are reintroduced, a phenomenon known as habit renewal.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bouton |first=Mark E. |year=2004 |title=Context and behavioral processes in extinction |journal=Learning & Memory |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=485–494 |doi=10.1101/lm.78804|doi-access=free }}</ref> Habit elimination becomes more difficult with age because repetitions reinforce habits cumulatively over the lifespan.{{r|Murdock}} According to Charles Duhigg, there is a loop that includes a cue, routine, and reward for every habit. An example of a habit loop is: TV program ends (cue), go to the fridge (routine), eat a snack (reward). The key to changing habits is to identify the cue and modify routine and reward.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Power of Habit|chapter-url=https://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work/|chapter=How Habits Work|first=Charles|last=Duhigg|at=Appendix|date=2012|publisher=Random House|archive-date=2023-11-30|access-date=2023-07-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130164141/https://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== See also == {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * Behavioral addiction * Fixation (psychology) * Habitus (disambiguation) * Self control * Tetris effect * Vice * Perseverance (virtue) {{div col end}} ;Habit modification approaches {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * Behavior modification * Cognitive behavioral therapy * Habit reversal training * Paradoxical intention {{div col end}} ;Behaviors with habitual elements {{div col|colwidth=22em}} * Childhood obesity * Nail biting * Neurodermatitis * Nose picking * Obsessive-compulsive disorder * Procrastination * Thumb sucking * Bulimia {{div col end}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book | last=James | first=William | title=William James on Habit, Will, Truth, and the Meaning of Life | publisher=Frederic C. Beil Publisher | year=2014 | isbn=978-1-929490-45-5 | editor-last=Allen| editor-first=James Sloan}} * {{cite book |title=Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick |year=2019 |first=Wendy |last=Wood |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-1250159076}}
== External links == {{Wiktionary|habit}} {{Wikiquote}}
* {{cite journal|first1=James Rowland|last1=Angell|first2=Addison W.|last2=Moore|year=1896|url=https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Angell/Angell_Moore_1896.html|title=Studies from the Psychological Laboratory of the University of Chicago: 1. Reaction-Time: A Study in Attention and Habit|journal=Psychological Review|volume=3|issue=3 |pages=245–258|doi=10.1037/h0069918 }} * {{Cite NSRW|wstitle=Habit|short=x}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Habit (Psychology)}} Category:Habits
{{Virtues}}