Explaining unexplainable food choices

Adriaanse, Marieke A.; Kroese, Floor M.; Weijers, Jonas; Gollwitzer, Peter M.; Oettingen, Gabriele

doi:10.1002/ejsp.2273

Cited by 60 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…That is, people can observe their own habits, reflect on their meaning, and infer that they serve a purpose. Such attributions may be misguided (Adriaanse et al 2018;, Wood & Rünger 2016 and amount to confabulations. However, it is not inconceivable that such reflections may form or strengthen a genuine intrinsic motivation.…”

Section: The Longevity Of Habitual Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes, Habits, and Behavior Change

Verplanken

Orbell

2022

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

153

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Efforts to guide peoples’ behavior toward environmental sustainability, good health, or new products have emphasized informational and attitude change strategies. There is evidence that changing attitudes leads to changes in behavior, yet this approach takes insufficient account of the nature and operation of habits, which form boundary conditions for attitude-directed interventions. Integration of research on attitudes and habits might enable investigators to identify when and how behavior change strategies will be most effective. How might attitudinally driven behavior change be consolidated into lasting habits? How do habits protect the individual against the vicissitudes of attitudes and temptations and promote goal achievement? How might attitudinal approaches aiming to change habits be improved by capitalizing on habit discontinuities and strategic planning? When and how might changing or creating habit architecture shape habits directly? A systematic approach to these questions might help move behavior change efforts from attitude change strategies to habit change strategies. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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Section: The Longevity Of Habitual Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Attitudes, Habits, and Behavior Change

Verplanken

Orbell

2022

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

153

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“…Research has shown that people often use post hoc justification for their habits. For example, we tend to make up reasons for unexplained automatic behaviour that align with our current values and goals (Adriaanse et al 2018 ) and Neal et al ( 2012 ) showed in an experiment that strong habits often were perceived as purposeful goal-directed behaviour, but were actually driven by recurring contextual triggers. Similar post hoc justifications for behaviour are also highlighted in cognitive dissonance theory which shows our tendency to justify actions when they are contradictory to our beliefs to reduce feelings of discomfort (Festinger 1962 ).…”

Section: Our Reliance On Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pro-environmental habits: An underexplored research agenda in sustainability science

Linder

Giusti

Samuelsson

et al. 2021

Ambio

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Habits are the fundamental basis for many of our daily actions and can be powerful barriers to behavioural change. Still, habits are not included in most narratives, theories, and interventions applied to sustainable behaviour. One reason societies struggle to reach policy goals and people fail to change towards more pro-environmental lifestyles might be that many behaviours are now bound by strong habits that override knowledge and intentions to act. In this perspective article, we provide three arguments for why pro-environmental habits are a needed research agenda in sustainability science: (1) habit theory highlights how behaviour is heavily reliant on automatic processes, (2) the environmental context sets boundary conditions for behaviour, shape habits, and cues action responses, and (3) our habits and past behaviour shape our values and self-identity. These arguments highlight the transformative potential of looking at sustainable behaviours through a habit lens. We believe a research agenda on pro-environmental habits could generate a more holistic understanding of sustainable behaviours and complement today’s dominating approaches which emphasize reasoned decisions and intrinsic motivations such as values, norms, and intentions to understand and predict pro-environmental behaviour. We highlight evident knowledge gaps and practical benefits of considering habit theory to promote pro-environmental behaviours, and how habit architecture could be utilized as a strong leverage point when designing, modifying, and building urban environments.

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“…Although monitoring one's own behaviour in order to avoid unsustainable habits and make sustainable choices is not impossible, this requires mental resources, which can easily be exhausted [26]. Also, people may misattribute control over habitual behaviour to their own willpower, whereas in reality this behaviour is controlled by the performance context [27].…”

Section: Breaking Unsustainable Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%