(Sponsoring faculty member: Dr. Niels Christensen)
The automatic nature of habits means that these behaviors have a
surprising – and often hidden - influence over a wide range of daily
actions when compared to the influence of conscious goals (Bargh, 1994,
1996). Although goals influence behaviors when habits are weak, goals
become less influential as the strength of the habit increases (Neal et
al., 2011; Neal et al., 2013). Despite habits’ importance, basic
questions about the construct remain. Previous research on habits has
predominately examined how to break bad
habits, or promote positive
habits; however, research has yet to assess the extent to which habits
have trait-like qualities (Neal et al., 2013). The primary goal of the
current research is more fundamental: To what degree do individuals vary
in their strength of habits across positive and negative habits? That
is, do habits have trait-like qualities? If so, are men and women
equally likely to express habits in a trait-like fashion. To answer
these questions, 350 Radford University undergraduates will report habit
strength on ten different positive and negative habits. If participants’
habit strength load on a single factor, it will suggest that some people
are more prone to habitual behavior than others. Alternatively, it could
be that habit strength loads on two or more factors. That result would
suggest that people are prone to particular types of habits or that
specific habits are idiosyncratic to each person.