Applying the Psychology of Habit: Using Daily Tracking to Support Beneficial Habits

Background Habits are ubiquitous in daily life, but we often underappreciate their influence on our behavior. Objective The Psychology of Habit is an undergraduate course that teaches students how habits work and how to leverage habit principles to make positive changes in their behavior. Method Students in the course ( n = 25) completed the “Habit Change Project,” in which they selected a new habit to develop (e.g., exercise, reading) and tracked their performance by responding to a brief daily survey for 10 weeks. The course guided students in applying key principles from the psychology of habit to their selected behavior. Results The response rate for the daily surveys was high, with 1,490 total responses (86%). On average, students performed their behavior on 75% of intended days, and 14 students (56%) developed at least some automaticity of their behavior by the end of the 10 weeks. Conclusion The results provide a promising proof of concept for using daily tracking to engage undergraduates in the psychology of habit, foster behavior change, and collect real-world data on habit formation. Teaching Implications Integrating daily habit tracking into psychology courses can be a simple yet powerful instructional tool.