Challenging assumptions about habit: A response to Hagger (2019)

Abstract

<p>Widely cited literature assumes <em>habits</em> to be: (1) specific and rigid behavioral responses; (2) in response to location- and timing-stable, external contexts, (3) goal-independent, and (4) enacted without conscious awareness. Hagger (2019) recently reviewed this literature as it applies to the physical activity domain. The purpose of this article is to challenge these assumptions in favor of a habit conceptualization that is more applicable to physical activity: (1) behavioral instigation and/or execution can be habitual, allowing for variable responses to cues; (2) stable contexts can be internal or <em>functional</em> (cued by a preceding action) but may vary in timing and physical location; (3) a shift from <em>external</em> to <em>internal</em> goal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/dependent-personality-disorder" title="Learn more about Dependent Personality Disorder">dependence</a> may characterize habit development; and (4) types of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/automaticity" title="Learn more about Automaticity">automaticity</a> other than purely nonconscious enactment may characterize habitual action. I present theory and research that supports these alternative characterizations and discuss their ramifications for physical activity adoption and maintenance via habit.</p>