Role Of Habits Research Articles

The Effect of Interventions on the Environmental Behaviour of Australian Motel Guests

This article reports on a pilot research project carried out to examine the effects of different interventions on the environmental behaviour of guests at motels in Victoria, Australia. The aim of the research was to test the influence of different in-room messages on the towel reuse behaviour of guests. Four different messages were used, representing ‘information only’ ‘information plus request’, ‘information plus descriptive norm’ and ‘information plus incentive’. Results of the study showed high levels of towel reuse and that providing information (either alone, or in conjunction with a request) acted as a prompt to encourage guests to reuse their towels. Further analysis of the results suggests that the role of habit may be the strongest influence on guests' reuse of towels. Implications for the hospitality industry are discussed, and suggestions for further research avenues proposed.

A Transaction-Level Analysis of Spatial Arbitrage: The Role of Habit, Attention, and Electronic Trading

Despite the central role of arbitrage in finance and economic theory, there is limited evidence of the factors that create and eliminate arbitrage opportunities, how often arbitrage occurs, and how profitable it is. We address these gaps via a transaction-level analysis of spatial arbitrage in the wholesale automotive market. We investigate why arbitrage opportunities are created by analyzing how sellers choose where to sell vehicles. We find that the attention sellers pay to the distribution of a vehicle is negatively related to the probability that it is arbitraged. Arbitrage occurs in approximately 1% of transactions, although electronic trading is making arbitrage less prevalent by improving buyer/seller matching across locations. Arbitrage yields a 5.6% return on average, although arbitrageurs take a loss 14% of the time. Our results contribute to the literature on arbitrage, the effect of attention allocation on market outcomes, and the effect of information technology on market efficiency.

The Economic Behavior of Human Beings: The Institutional/Post-Keynesian Model

:This paper attempts to present the basic features that would define a model of behavior suited to an institutional and post-Keynesian approach. To facilitate explanation, human behavior is divided into three phases: motivation, cognition and reasoning and decision-making. Motivation appears as a process directed toward the satisfaction of a complex structure of various needs and wants. The role of emotions and the social and cognitive aspects of motivation are recognized. Moreover, it is also recognized that human beings have limited cognitive and rational capacities, and it is accepted that they are potentially creative. Partly as a consequence of that, cognition becomes a social act and knowledge of reality is subject to fundamental uncertainty. Finally, human rationality (or intelligence) is associated with a search for good solutions, and it includes elements of procedural rationality, creativity and emotional rationality. The role of habits and institutions in all these phases is stressed.

Configuring the Moral Self: Aristotle and Dewey

Focusing on the concept of “the moral self” this essay explores relationships between Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and John Dewey’s moral pragmatism and tries to evaluate the extent to which in his work on ethics Aristotle may be considered a pragmatist. Aristotle foreshadows pragmatism, for example, in preferring virtue-based to rule-based ethics, in contending that the moral status of a person’s actions and the nature of the person’s selfhood are interdependent, and in stressing the key role of habits in character formation. Aristotle, however, may seem far from the status of pragmatist when he privileges the life of contemplation and posits a moral self that is more static than the one proposed by Dewey. This essay contends that if more attention is paid to Aristotle’s treatment of friendship and to his highlighting of the need for reciprocity then the moral self that emerges from Nicomachean Ethics becomes more dialectical and more at one with that proposed by the American pragmatist. Aristotle, then, may be regarded as setting Dewey on the path towards a model of moral self that is not only deeply concerned about the lives of others but that is also dependent on others for its own existence.

Accounting for the role of habit in behavioural strategies for injury prevention

The limited success of behavioural strategies in injury prevention has been attributed to failure to properly apply behaviour change models to intervention design and the explanation of safety behaviours. However, this paper contends that many health behaviour change interventions do not succeed because they fail to take into account the habitual quality of most health and safety-related behaviour; a more complete model of behaviour change needs to be based on a better understanding of the role of habit. The overall aim is to contribute to better understanding of behavioural strategies for injury prevention. When habits are weak, attitudes and intentions predict behaviours, but as behaviours turn into habits, they become better predictors of future behaviour than attitudes or intentions. Furthermore, where habits are strong, individuals are less likely to act on new information, evaluating counter-habitual information negatively. Integrating the concepts of strong and weak habits with upstream and downstream strategies, a framework is presented for tailoring strategies to the habit strength of the target behaviour.

“I'm Not in the Habit of Recycling”

The role of habit was investigated using two potential measures of habitual recycling behavior: past recycling behavior and perceived lack of habit as a reason for previous failure to recycle. Data were collected from 252 participants in Scotland, United Kingdom. Situational constraints, demographic characteristics, and variables associated with the theory of planned behavior were controlled for. Both past behavior and lack of habit made significant independent contributions to the variance of intention to recycle, suggesting that past recycling behavior was not an adequate measure of habit. Lack of habit moderated the attitude–intention relationship, such that the attitudes of those lacking a recycling habit did not predict intention to recycle. This suggests that those who had failed to recycle because of lack of habit may have had the habit of treating recyclables as garbage. Further work is required to develop a range of adequate measures of habit in the recycling domain.

The Actor's Second Nature: Stanislavski and William James

This article considers the origins of Stanislavski's system and his insistence that the actor's skills, like the musician's, must be honed through daily exercises. Such practice must become the actor's ‘second nature’, as Stanislavski terms it. Rose Whyman here compares what Stanislavski has to say about skill acquisition with the psychologist William James's discussion of the role of habit in learning. This raises some problems in theorizing the system today, as it was rooted in the science of more than a century ago, when much less was known about the mechanisms of memory and learning. Rose Whyman worked previously in community and experimental theatre and is now a lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham. Her book The Stanislavski System of Acting: Legacy and Influence in Modern Performance is to be published by CUP later this year.

Health and goal-directed behavior: The nonconscious regulation and motivation of goals and their pursuit

Modern research in the domain of health psychology considers goals to play a pivotal role in shaping, changing and maintaining behaviors related to health. Whereas the common view on this topic assumes that goal pursuit is governed by a conscious intentional process, recent research indicates that goal pursuit can emerge without involvement of conscious intent. This paper discusses key findings of this research on nonconscious goal pursuit, and attempts to promote a more comprehensive understanding and examination of the role of goals in human behavior, self-regulation and health. Specifically, it addresses (1) the role of habits and planning; (2) the human capacity to go beyond habits nonconsciously by regulating goals without awareness of the activation and operation of the goal; and (3) the fundamental role of affect in nonconsciously modulating the motivation of goals and their pursuit.

The roles of habit and web site quality in e-commerce

Previous research has primarily examined consumers’ perceived usefulness of web sites and trust in the web retailer as two major predictors of web site use and e-commerce adoption. While the consumers’ repeated behavior in the past (i.e., habit) may contribute to continuance behavior, it has not been investigated. This article includes habit as a primary construct along with perceived usefulness and trust to predict and explain consumers’ continued behavior of using a B2C web site. Additionally, included are several web quality measures as antecedents to trust and perceived usefulness. The research model is evaluated using structural equation modeling. Results show that consumers’ behavioral intentions to continue using a B2C web site are determined by all three key drivers: perceived usefulness, trust, and habit. Furthermore, not all dimensions of web quality have a significant effect on perceived usefulness and trust.

Firm transformation: advancing a Darwinian perspective

PurposeThe paper advocates a Darwinian explanation of the process of firm transformation. Existing but generally opposing views related to the selection‐adaptation debates are united to consider the dialogic nature of both approaches. It is argued that a Darwinian approach, as opposed to a neo‐Darwinian or Lamarckian approach, provides the means to scale the sides of a debate that has for too long divided scholars interested in firm and industry transformation.Design/methodology/approachThe paper addresses three specific issues to develop its Darwinian argument. First, the various works of Geoff Hodgson that have for many years advanced Darwin's evolutionary ideas are used to argue the nature and application of Darwinism in the socio‐economic domain. Second, the nature of what constitutes the elements of firm‐environment interaction is considered to establish basic areas of focus through which the process of firm transformation is more understandable. Finally, the construct absorptive capacity is likened to a mechanism of transmission through which the learning processes associated with the acquisition of favoured variations can be reconciled with the generic evolutionary processes of variation, selection, and retention.FindingsTo understand the process of firm learning, the role of habits and routines must be outlined in specific detail. They cannot be assumed to perform interacting and replicating roles simultaneously. To do so undermines the fundamental qualities of an evolutionary theory.Originality/valueThe preliminary framework advanced takes us beyond the Darwinian‐Lamarckian debate and provides elements of focus from which a greater understanding of the process of firm/industry transformation is possible.

General selection theory and economic evolution: The Price equation and the replicator/interactor distinction

The purpose of the present article is to strengthen the conceptualisation of the principle of selection in theories of economic evolution and to help clarify a number of unsettled issues regarding the meaning of variety and continuity. In order to achieve this, the emerging general mathematical selection theory is introduced to identify the requirements of a general principle of selection and the specification of variety and continuity that follows from it. It is indicated how general selection theory can help advance evolutionary theories of economic change by clarifying the meaning of selection, and the possible role of habits and routines in economic selection.

Nutrition guidance in Dutch family practice: behavioral determinants of reduction of fat consumption

Studies have shown that the psychosocial determinants attitude, self-efficacy, subjective norm, and health threat are important in predicting intention to change fat consumption. However, the role of habit in relation to these determinants is still largely unknown. We aimed to assess whether and how habit influences intention in relation to attitude, self-efficacy, subjective norm, and health threat. Cross-sectionally, we studied the self-reported psychosocial determinants and intention of 105 (52 intervention, 53 control) patients who participated in a family practice-based tailored nutrition counseling intervention study for lowering cardiovascular risk. Fat intake 15 mo before the assessment of psychosocial determinants was used as a measure of habit. We used logistic regression analyses to develop a model predicting intention to change fat consumption. Our regression model explained 43% of the variance in intention. Patients who perceived higher subjective norm or more social support had a higher intention. Habit was a significant predictor of intention in interaction with self-efficacy and health threat. Attitude, health threat, age, and group membership (ie, whether patients had been in the intervention group or the control group of the intervention study) were also included in the regression model. The results suggest that habit in addition to subjective norm and the other more frequently investigated psychosocial determinants are important in predicting intention to change fat consumption. To achieve sustainable health improvement through nutrition education programs, these programs should therefore start focusing more on subjective norm and habit.

Habit versus choice: the process of decision-making in health-related behaviour

Social differences in the role of habits in health-related behaviour are explored within both sociology and economics, where we define habits as non-reflective, repetitive behaviour. The corresponding theoretical perspectives are the habitus theory, the theory of individualization, and habits as rational decision rules. Sixteen thematically structured interviews are analysed using qualitative methodology. Three aspects of habits emerged from the narrative: the association between habits and preferences, habits as a source of utility, and the relationship between habits and norms. We find that people in lower social positions are more inclined to rely on their habits and are accordingly less likely to change their behaviour. These differences are reinforced as not only the disposition to maintain habits but also the tendency to conceive of the habitual as something good seems to be strengthened in lower social positions. We also note that the intensified individualization that characterizes current society erodes the basis for habit-governed behaviour, which may also contribute to social differences in well-being. Finally, we find that the scientific dialogue has enriched both scientific paradigms, and suggest as a tentative hypothesis that the traditional economic rational-actor model may be relatively less applicable to those with limited resources.

Intention—Behavior Relations: A Conceptual and Empirical Review

This chapter addresses two questions; how big is the “gap” between intentions and behavior, and what psychological variables might be able to “bridge” the intention–behavior gap? A meta-analysis of meta-analyses is used to quantify the gap and a conceptual analysis of intention–behavior discrepancies is presented. Research is described on the extent to which four groups of variables—behavior type, intention type, properties of intention, and cognitive and personality variables—moderate intention–behavior relations. Finally, the scope of the intention construct is discussed in the light of recent evidence concerning the role of habits and automaticity in human behavior.

Management styles in the public sector

New research on the role of habits and rules in working practices could have a significant impact on the way management understands the routines subordinate individuals use and how effective change may be brought about. Whilst generally applicable, the benefits of understanding such routines, and how and why they should be encouraged, is highly visible in the public sector where multiple goals are commonplace.

Habit and information use in travel mode choices

This study focuses on the role of habit in the process of information use underlying daily travel mode choices. Based on the ‘policy capturing’ paradigm, eighty-two students performed a multiattribute travel mode judgment task, in which they could use information about travel circumstances in order to make a number of judgments. Measures of information use were obtained by performing multiple regression analyses for each subject. It was found that habit reduced the elaborateness of information use in judgments of travel mode use. This effect was independent of effects of manipulated accountability demands.

Activist–Leader Relations and the Structure of Political Parties: ‘Exchange’ Models and Vote-Seeking Behaviour in Parties

This article examines how party organization affects, and is itself affected by, the objectives pursued by parties in liberal democracies; it focuses on vote-seeking behaviour by parties. It argues that it is a mistake to model activist–leader relations in the past as having been primarily the product of particular kinds of ‘exchanges’ between leaders and activists in a party. Such models limit our understanding of intra-party relations in four important respects – by focusing exclusively on the idea of ‘exchange’ and not examining the role of ‘gifts’; by not considering the role of solidary incentives; by omitting an analysis of loyalty; and by not taking account of the role of habit. However, the article also argues that ‘exchange’ is becoming now a far more significant element in intra-party relations and that this development will constrain party leaders and influence the goals pursued by parties. Greater reliance on exchange between leaders and activists may lead to parties becoming generally more policy-seeking in their behaviour and also to their becoming less manageable than in the past.

Achieving Higher Seat Belt Usage: The Role of Habit in Bridging the Attitude‐Behavior Gap1

The Triandis (1977, 1980) model of habit is applied in an investigation of attitude‐behavior discrepancy for seat belt use behavior. Habit is conceptualized as automated response, and the measure employed here is shown to be discriminated from measures of intentions and behavior. A case is also made for a distinction between pro‐intentional and counter‐intentional habits. Data from a random sample of 197 adult respondents show that the two habits (a) are distinct; (b) operate differently, that is, use habit has a main effect whereas nonuse habit interacts with attitude/intentions; and (c) explain belt use behavior nonredundantly with intention and attitude (e.g., their addition to attitude raises R2 from 38.8% to 62.9%). Theoretical implications for understanding habit processes and programmatic directions for increasing the belt usage are discussed.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF EATING, DRINKING, AND SMOKING IN ADULT WOMEN

The psychological functions of eating, drinking, and smoking were analyzed in relation to the self-reported behaviors of 20 to 30 year old women. Participants were recruited from a range of sources, and the 766 volunteers generated two quasi-representative samples of 265 subjects each which matched each other and census data on a range of demographic variables. Eight scales of psychological functions were developed. In each domain, one scale reflected behavior aimed at relief of negative effect, and one scale reflected positively motivated behavior. In the eating domain, a third scale represented eating in response to external cues, and in the drinking domain there was a scale of socially motivated drinking. Psychometric properties of each scale were investigated. Multiple correlations between the scales and their criteria ranged from R = .63 to R = .75 reflecting the importance of the predictors studied. Functions were compared within and between behavioral domains and the role of habit was also compared across domains.

Survivor education: The role of habits, attitudes, and risk taking

Abstract Those of us who study and teach about death related issues–we are sometimes called thanatologists–generally agree that death education, “if taught properly, is very much concerned with life in the fullest sense”, (1, p. 32) that none of us reaches true maturity until we have learned to face the fact of our own death and then shaped our ways of living accordingly. Herman Feifel perhaps put this more eloquendy when he states: “To die–this is the human condition: to live decendy and to die well–this is man's privilege” (2, p. 12).