Habit: Why Should We Study It and what Can We Do?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-8623.2015.2.17816Keywords:
Habit, Automatism, Pro-environmental behavior, Travel behavior, Psychological measure.Abstract
In this article, the habit is introduced as a useful concept to make lasting pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., performing selective garbage collection, saving water and using public transportation). Habit is a learned behavior which, after being repeated several times, has become automatic, i.e., with little or no deliberation by an individual. It relieves the cognitive effort of an individual to always weigh the pros and cons of different situations. They are stable and hard-to-break behaviors. This review addresses the formation and maintenance of the habit, as well as presents four existing psychological measures. Finally, possible interventions are discussed, using transportation as an example. Interventions aim to encourage the formation of new habits that protect the environment and minimize the force of old unwanted habits. In this scenario, the habit gains relevance and can be one more tool to address the challenges related to the promotion of relevant environmentally-friendly behaviors.Downloads
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