Psychology Today: 6 Principles to Form Healthy Habits

How can we form healthy habits? The first step is learning the science of habit formation.

The present article summarizes six principles of habit formation, as discussed in a recent paper by Harvey et al., published in the March issue of Perspectives in Psychological Science.

1. Habits do not depend on goals

Healthy habits are usually formed when, in pursuit of a goal, a person repeats a healthy behavior in a particular context. Over time, the behavior no longer depends on the goal.

Application: To form healthy habits, the first step is to set goals. As you pursue set goals, your behaviors can become habitual.

For example, meditation can become a habit and persist even when the initial reason for meditating (e.g., extreme panic and anxiety) is no longer present.

2. Habits are cued by context

Habits are triggered by context cues, whether internal (e.g., stress, hunger) or external (e.g., an advertisement, the presence of others).

Application: To form healthy habits, be as consistent as possible: Try to perform the desired behavior in the same context, in the same mood, with the same individuals, at the same time, etc.

Use event-based cues (e.g., studying after lunch) than time-based ones (e.g., studying at 7 pm) because the former are generally more effective.

3. Habits are learned through repetition

Repetition is essential to habit formation. It improves skills and reduces effort.

Application: Life can be unpredictable, so in order to continue to practice the habit regularly, it is necessary to use effective problem-solving techniques. In short, prepare and plan.

Also, use reminders (e.g., alarms, strategically placed post-it notes). But keep in mind that the effectiveness of reminders sometimes decreases over time (e.g., no longer noticing the post-it notes).

4. Habits are automatic

Bad habits are hard to break partly because habits are automatic, meaning habits require few attentional resources and often no conscious initiation or even conscious awareness. Automaticity concerns not just the behavior but also the attention to cues that trigger the behavior.

Application: You can break the automaticity of negative behaviors—including negative automatic thoughts and thinking habits (e.g., “I am worthless” or “This will never work”)—by conducting behavioral experiments.

For example, if you often justify self-criticism as actually helpful or motivating, experiment with being more self-compassionate for a couple of days each week. See whether the results of the experiment show you are less or more motivated when being self-compassionate.

5. Habits are promoted by reinforcers

Reinforcers and rewards strengthen behaviors and facilitate habit formation.

Partial reinforcement (i.e. rewarding a behavior only sometimes) is more effective than continuous reinforcement (i.e. rewarding a behavior all the time).

And interval reinforcement schedules (reinforcement occurring only after a certain duration) are more effective than ratio reinforcement schedules (reinforcement always occurring with a certain probability).

Applications: Use continuous reinforcement initially in order to create a strong link between the behavior and the reinforcer; subsequently, use partial reinforcement.

Anything you find rewarding—be it praise, a favorite snack, or an extra hour to play video games—may work. However, rewards sometimes lose their power to motivate and need to be replaced.

6. Habit change takes time

The last principle of habit formation concerns time. Forming new habits takes anywhere from a couple of weeks to many months—depending on the person, complexity of the behavior, consistency and frequency of performing the behavior, etc.

For instance, one study found habit formation takes anywhere from 18 to 254 days.

Application: Be patient and focus on forming just one new habit at a time. You did not develop bad habits overnight, so do not expect to be able to change multiple bad habits and replace them with healthy habits in a short time.

Reflection:

What habits are you hoping to develop? Or what habits are you hoping to let go of?

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