Framework · Wendy Wood, David Neal and colleagues

Habits as context–response links

A habit is a memory link between a context (place, time, people, preceding action) and a response, built by repeating the response in that context.

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A habit is a memory link between a context (place, time, people, preceding action) and a response, built by repeating the response in that context. Once strong, the context triggers the response directly, even when goals change.

How to use it with a real habit

• Choose one stable context for each new habit.
• To change a habit, change or avoid its context.
• Use life changes as windows to build new links.

What the evidence says

Supported by multiple studies: Many studies, often pooled in reviews or meta-analyses, point the same way. It still works better for some people and situations than others.

Supported by diary studies, field studies of life transitions and lab work; the exact relationship between habits and goals in everyday life is still debated.

Limits

• Explains how habits run better than how to make any one habit form quickly.

Sources

• Wood & Neal (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.843
• Wood & Rünger (2016). Psychology of Habit. Annual Review of Psychology. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033417
• Neal, Wood & Quinn (2006). Habits—A Repeat Performance. Current Directions in Psychological Science. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00435.x