Habit Discontinuity

Day 146: One thing I learned today…

Do you have major changes coming up in your life? How about changes with your work or living routine?

Habit discontinuity hypothesis states that behavior change interventions are more effective when delivered in the context of life course changes. Maybe you are thinking to yourself, “Wait, I’ve got enough going on, no more new changes for me”.

The assumption is that when habits are disturbed, people are more sensitive to new information and adopt a mind-set that is conducive to behavior change. Again moving out of the autopilot mode and bringing in awareness and effort to your behavior change.

One study with approximately 800 participants found that when comparing groups of individuals, the habit discontinuity hypothesis intervention was more effective than the control group when looking at individuals who were relocating.

Source: Verplanken, Bas & Roy, Debbie. (2015). Empowering interventions to promote sustainable lifestyles: Testing the habit discontinuity hypothesis in a field experiment. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 45.