VeryWell Mind: Habits Influence Our Behavior More Than We Realize, Study Reveals

" We develop routines and repeat behaviors whether they're healthy for us or not. While they can help us get through the day, habits can also be destructive, and once they're formed, they're incredibly difficult to break.

The Research

A new study focuses on the effects of inner states, such as mood, on behavior by assessing participants' attributions for that behavior. Researchers conducted two studies to better understand the concept. In one study, participants were asked to recall a happy, sad or neutral event before completing a simple, unrelated task that trained them in either a strong or weak habit of pressing certain computer keys.

After the training portion, participants were asked to indicate, by pressing one of those computer keys, whether they would donate more time to the study. Although participants who were strongly trained to press a certain key were more likely to answer the question by pressing that same key, when they were asked to explain their choice, participants were more likely to attribute their behavior to inner states over habits, even when that behavior was driven by habit.

In a second study, researchers invited participants to track their coffee-drinking habits over a 5-day period. Participants were asked to report on fatigue levels and the strength of their coffee-drinking habit, and the results showed that participants "miscalibrated these behavioral influences" by attributing their coffee-drinking to fatigue over habit even though their reported fatigue levels largely stayed the same.

Clinical psychologist Debra Kawahara, PsyD, notes that, like this study, past research has also found that people tend to believe their emotions and mood play a bigger role in their behavior than the habits they've formed over time.

"Once the habit loop is formed, the part of the brain that is needed to focus on the behavior or activity is no longer needed and it frees up so our brain can focus on other activities or behavior," Kawahara says.

How We Form New Habits

Licensed professional counselor Taish Malone, PhD, LPC, says emotions, patterns, and memories contribute to the underpinnings of habit.

She suggests first identifying a reward, goal, or incentive, then consistently practicing behavior that will result in that incentive.

"We can either be influenced by favorable actions and follow the sequence to naturally develop positive habits or can use the properties of neuroplasticity to intentionally rewire one’s brain to create desired results," Malone says.

"Rewiring one's brain" may sound like serious business, but humans are highly adaptive creatures. Whether you're trying to start a healthy habit or break an unhealthy one, rewarding yourself is encouraged.

Read the full article here!

Reflection:

What are some habits you're trying to break/ develop?

#Habits #HumanBehavior #Emotion