{"title":"Some habits are more work than others: Deliberate self-regulation strategy use increases with behavioral complexity, even for established habits.","authors":"Blair Saunders, Kimberly R More","doi":"10.1111/jopy.12926","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>We tested the hypothesis that complex behaviors are commonly supported by self-regulation strategies, even when those behaviors are supported by strong instigation habits.</p><p><strong>Background: </strong>Goal-directed and habit-mediated processes arise from separable systems that have been suggested to seldomly interact.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Self-regulation strategy use was lower for habitually instigated simple behaviors compared to nonhabitually instigated simple behaviors. However, participants' use of self-regulation strategies increased with the increasing complexity of behaviors, even when complex behaviors were habitually instigated. The difference in the extent of strategy use between habitually and nonhabitually instigated actions was absent when behavioral complexity was particularly high.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These results point to a qualitative distinction-while simple behaviors may progress in a relatively automatic and unthinking manner, complex behaviors receive frequent support from self-regulation strategies, even if they are instigated habitually.</p>","PeriodicalId":48421,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Personality","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Personality","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12926","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Psychology","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective: We tested the hypothesis that complex behaviors are commonly supported by self-regulation strategies, even when those behaviors are supported by strong instigation habits.
Background: Goal-directed and habit-mediated processes arise from separable systems that have been suggested to seldomly interact.
Results: Self-regulation strategy use was lower for habitually instigated simple behaviors compared to nonhabitually instigated simple behaviors. However, participants' use of self-regulation strategies increased with the increasing complexity of behaviors, even when complex behaviors were habitually instigated. The difference in the extent of strategy use between habitually and nonhabitually instigated actions was absent when behavioral complexity was particularly high.
Conclusion: These results point to a qualitative distinction-while simple behaviors may progress in a relatively automatic and unthinking manner, complex behaviors receive frequent support from self-regulation strategies, even if they are instigated habitually.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Personality publishes scientific investigations in the field of personality. It focuses particularly on personality and behavior dynamics, personality development, and individual differences in the cognitive, affective, and interpersonal domains. The journal reflects and stimulates interest in the growth of new theoretical and methodological approaches in personality psychology.