Habit Discontinuity, Self-Activation, and the Diminishing Influence of Context Change: Evidence from the UK Understanding Society Survey.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Observational cohort analysis using a representative population survey dataset.
PubMed 27120333 · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153490
What was done
Researchers evaluated the habit discontinuity hypothesis using the UK Understanding Society dataset across 18,053 individuals representative of the UK population. They analyzed relationships between time elapsed since moving home, commuting mode to work, and the strength of environmental attitudes.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, odds ratios, or effect sizes. It reports that car use was significantly lower among individuals with stronger environmental attitudes exclusively after recently moving home, with this effect decaying as time since relocation increased.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that context changes such as moving home temporarily disrupt automatic travel habits, creating a brief window of opportunity where personal environmental attitudes can influence commuting choices.
Limits
The abstract provides no numerical data or confidence intervals. The findings rely on observational survey data and self-reported measures, preventing direct causal confirmation of habit disruption.
Cited by
- supports Studies demonstrate that establishing a new habit is easier when performed in a novel or clean environment devoid of cues associated with competing behaviors.