PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

The goal of this dissertation was simple, but not easy: reduce motivational interference in self-regulated behavior with a low-threshold, scalable intervention. When choosing an activity (e.g., studying for an upcoming exam), we simultaneously decide to forgo other activities (e.g., watching Netflix). If we now feel we want or should do a forgone activity, we experience a motivational conflict between the focal and the forgone activity. The effect of this conflict is that it interferes with the current motivation – motivational interference – for the focal activity by increasing distractibility, making one think about alternative activities, triggering task switching, worsening mood and lowering persistence. We want to make the focal activity more resilient against these external attacks by increased behavioral automaticity, which translates to: building habits. Building habits is simple, but not easy: repeat a behavior in a stable context. A habit is an automatized behavioral sequence (e.g., summarizing lecture slides) that is triggered by a context cue (e.g., after brushing teeth in the evening).
Put simply, the problem is motivational interference in self-regulated behavior, the mechanism to counteract it is behavioral automaticity (i.e., habits), and the method of delivery is a simple app-based intervention. Three datasets were generated and analyzed for this dissertation with a total of N = 7,424 unique habit repetitions reported by N = 404 people. Two of the datasets stem from controlled studies with university students building learning habits over a six-week time frame, and one dataset contains user data from a published iOS app. For the first paper, I created a habit building app, which led the participants through a self-guided, structured, study-habit definition process and tracked relevant data. The app was then slightly modified to be used for any habit and published on Apple’s AppStore under the name Grow – Habit Builder (Stojanovic, 2019), which generated the user dataset. The second study dataset was generated using the survey tool Qualtrics (Qualtrics, 2021). Each paper is based on one of these datasets. Additionally, Paper 2 and Paper 3 double-test their core hypotheses with a study dataset and the user dataset.
To achieve the allegedly simple goal of this dissertation – reduce motivational interference via a low-threshold habit building intervention – I set out to answer three core questions: Does it work? Does it generalize? Which factors support it? **Does Automaticity Reduce Motivational Interference?** Proof for this fundamental mechanism is essential. Otherwise, habit building would not qualify as a solution for the experience of motivational interference during self-regulated behavior. We tested this in Paper 1 (Stojanovic et al., 2020). In that paper, we showed that the automaticity score from the current habit repetition predicted less motivational interference as well as less motivational want conflicts during the next habit repetition (N = 91 students, N = 2,574 habit repetitions). **Does the Finding From the Previous Question Generalize to Self-Guided, Freely Chosen Habits by Real-Life App Users Without Study Incentives?** This question targets the low-threshold part of the overarching dissertation goal and seeks to generalize the found mechanisms from self-regulated studying to freely chosen, beneficial, self-regulated behavior. This would increase the reach of the found explanations and predictions significantly from study behavior in mainly female psychology students to a broader range of domains and subjects. We tested this in Paper 2 (Stojanovic et al., 2021). In this paper, we showed that automaticity predicted less motivational interference in real users of Grow – Habit Builder from all over the world across a broad range of beneficial habit classes such as studying, exercise, meditation, and productivity (N = 196 users, N = 265 habits, N = 2,232 habit repetitions). **Which Malleable Factors Support Habit Building?** By answering the first question with yes, we established the core functionality: Yes, we can fight pesky motivational interference with habit building. By answering the second question with yes, we established generalizability: Yes, this mechanism is true outside the study setting and for other beneficial habits outside the realm of academic learning, and it can be promoted with a simple, self-guided, low-threshold, app-based intervention for people from many different countries. This makes successful habit building valuable and easy to implement. By focussing on this third question – which malleable factors support habit building – I sought to optimize habit building, so that its utility can be leveraged even better. Specifically, we investigated the role of self-efficacy (Paper 2; Stojanovic et al., 2021) and context stability (Paper 3; Stojanovic et al., 2022) in the habit building process. In Paper 2, we showed that general self-efficacy predicted higher automaticity scores (N = 91 students, N = 2,574 habit repetitions) and that habit-specific self-efficacy of the current habit repetition predicted automaticity of the next habit repetition and vice versa resulting in a virtuous cycle of growing automaticity and self-efficacy (N = 196 users, N = 265 habits, N = 2,232 habit repetitions). In Paper 3, we showed that context stability – the time and place where a habit is repeatedly performed – predicted higher automaticity and higher habit repetition goal (the goal set for one habit repetition) attainment scores (N = 95 students, N = 2,482 habit repetitions; N = 218 users, N = 308 habits, N = 2,368 habit repetitions). Malleable factors were chosen over fixed ones such as IQ or personality traits, so that the found mechanisms can be applied to a broad audience in order to improve habit building success by focussing on controllable variables that can be shaped over time independently of relatively fixed individual characteristics. Acknowledging the infinite nature of scientific progress, this synopsis will not end with the answer to the last research question but inspire further inquiry. Exploratory analyses conducted for this synopsis, show that (1) reduced motivational interference supports habit repetition goal attainment and (2) that even the relatively stable factors of general study habit strength, self-control, and general self-efficacy increased after a habit building intervention in pre-post comparisons. This points to promising future research questions on further desirable outcomes related to intentional habit building. The answers above constitute the scientific contribution of the dissertation and serve the practical cause to make the execution of complex tasks not simple, but easy.