University of Surrey:

Habit, not conscious choice, drives most of our actions, according to new research from the University of Surrey, University of South Carolina and Central Queensland University.

The research, published in Psychology & Health, found that two-thirds of our daily behaviours are initiated “on autopilot”, out of habit.

Habits are actions that we are automatically prompted to do when we encounter everyday settings, due to associations that we have learned between those settings and our usual responses to them.

The research also found that 46% of behaviours were both triggered by habit and aligned with conscious intentions, suggesting that people form habits that support their personal goals, and often disrupt habits that conflict with them.

While there have been previous attempts to estimate the prevalence of habits in our day-to-day lives, this study used a new method to capture habits in action.

The international research team surveyed 105 participants from the UK and Australia, sending six random prompts to their phones each day for a week, asking them to describe what they were currently doing, and whether it was triggered out of habit or done intentionally.

The study found that 65% of daily behaviours were habitually initiated, meaning people were prompted to do them out of routine rather than making a conscious decision. [Continue reading…]