<p>I will attempt to answer your question. However, I will not be able to provide a neurological explanation of the mechanisms of this pattern. </p>

<p>First off, apparently such a thing does exist. In cognitive and behavioural psychology fields, such a pattern has been studied extensively by many researchers ever since. One example of a theory that addresses this pattern is a repackaged popular theory known as the <em>Theory of Cognitive Dissonance</em> by an American cognitive psychologist named Leon Festinger.</p>

<p>The theory of dissonance attempts to explain this pattern through suggesting that when a person makes a decision, he/she will end up repeating this decision sometime later due to feeling remorseful after making the decision. Some people tend to feel more remorseful than others when making a decision such as smoking a cigarette or drinking alcohol so they end up abusing these substances. When one makes a decision, he/she tries to convince himself/herself that "it must be right, or otherwise I would not have done it". If, however, he/she has decided earlier that it is too wrong to do it, then the dissonance from doing it will be greater and one will be more likely to redo the action that caused him the remorse. Examples of this exist with the buyer's remorse, smoker's remorse (that's why they have these labels on the cigarette packets that scare you even more) and even the liker's remorse (clicking the like button in facebook). In all cases you realize that you have done something wrong, so you simply do it again. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T15:25:27.803Z
So you mean people repeat what they do because they felt bad about it? That's sounds counterintuitive.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T15:52:42.593Z
Or they felt good about it.
dimyak
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T16:06:30.407Z
This just one very simple explanation. Offcourse, there are many other explanations.
dimyak
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T15:05:37.897Z
2016-08-13T15:05:37.897Z
dimyak
<p>You get horny, and you don't prevent yourself. You just go after satisfying your need. Another time you do this. Again another time, and more and more.</p>

<p>A time comes when you feel like you can't control yourself, even if you want to. In the beginning you could if you wanted to, but now things seem to be out of your control.</p>

<p>Personally I've experienced this pattern about food, lust, and responsibility. Empirically I think there should be a pattern that our decisions today will effect our decisions tomorrow. That is, with each decision, mind changes to make that decision easier next time.</p>

<p>Does this truly exist? Do we have a theory or a research behind this pattern?</p>

<p>I think each decision effects mind in a way that we might say that special connections are made between neurons and those special connections will impact next decisions of the same kind. I searched and couldn't find anything.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-12T14:47:24.760Z
Downvoters, please add comment. I think this is a totally legitimate question.
Saeed Neamati
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T15:24:14.133Z
I was not one of the voters, but it may be because of your choice of words. Perhaps you could rephrase it a bit a remove the personal reference.
Robin Kramer-ten Have
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T17:17:53.437Z
I truly appreciate if your help regarding rephrasing
Saeed Neamati
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-14T01:03:34.973Z
What you are describing is just called Addiction.
Arnon Weinberg
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-14T03:25:54.117Z
@ArnonWeinberg, of course it might be called addiction. In cognitive sceinces we're not concerned about *what*. We're not even concerned about *how* or behavior. We're concerned about *why*. We want to find the inner workings that result to that state.
Saeed Neamati
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-19T16:59:49.450Z
So are you asking what neural mechanisms lead to the creation of habits or destructive behaviours?
Seanny123
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-20T20:12:58.380Z
From an evolutionary perspective, a lot of these behaviors are actually not destructive. They are destructive in modern times. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/482982-evolution-has-meant-that-our-prefrontal-lobes-are-too-small
Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn
<brain-training><theory-of-mind>
How neural mechanisms lead to the creation of habits or destructive behaviours?
Saeed Neamati
# How neural mechanisms lead to the creation of habits or destructive behaviours?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-08-10)

You get horny, and you don't prevent yourself. You just go after satisfying your need. Another time you do this. Again another time, and more and more.

A time comes when you feel like you can't control yourself, even if you want to. In the beginning you could if you wanted to, but now things seem to be out of your control.

Personally I've experienced this pattern about food, lust, and responsibility. Empirically I think there should be a pattern that our decisions today will effect our decisions tomorrow. That is, with each decision, mind changes to make that decision easier next time.

Does this truly exist? Do we have a theory or a research behind this pattern?

I think each decision effects mind in a way that we might say that special connections are made between neurons and those special connections will impact next decisions of the same kind. I searched and couldn't find anything.

**Tags:** brain-training, theory-of-mind

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Downvoters, please add comment. I think this is a totally legitimate question.  
> **username_1**: I was not one of the voters, but it may be because of your choice of words. Perhaps you could rephrase it a bit a remove the personal reference.  
> **username_0**: I truly appreciate if your help regarding rephrasing  
> **username_2**: What you are describing is just called Addiction.  
> **username_0**: @ArnonWeinberg, of course it might be called addiction. In cognitive sceinces we're not concerned about *what*. We're not even concerned about *how* or behavior. We're concerned about *why*. We want to find the inner workings that result to that state.  
> **username_3**: So are you asking what neural mechanisms lead to the creation of habits or destructive behaviours?  
> **username_4**: From an evolutionary perspective, a lot of these behaviors are actually not destructive. They are destructive in modern times. http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/482982-evolution-has-meant-that-our-prefrontal-lobes-are-too-small  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2016-08-13. Score: 1

I will attempt to answer your question. However, I will not be able to provide a neurological explanation of the mechanisms of this pattern.

First off, apparently such a thing does exist. In cognitive and behavioural psychology fields, such a pattern has been studied extensively by many researchers ever since. One example of a theory that addresses this pattern is a repackaged popular theory known as the *Theory of Cognitive Dissonance* by an American cognitive psychologist named Leon Festinger.

The theory of dissonance attempts to explain this pattern through suggesting that when a person makes a decision, he/she will end up repeating this decision sometime later due to feeling remorseful after making the decision. Some people tend to feel more remorseful than others when making a decision such as smoking a cigarette or drinking alcohol so they end up abusing these substances. When one makes a decision, he/she tries to convince himself/herself that "it must be right, or otherwise I would not have done it". If, however, he/she has decided earlier that it is too wrong to do it, then the dissonance from doing it will be greater and one will be more likely to redo the action that caused him the remorse. Examples of this exist with the buyer's remorse, smoker's remorse (that's why they have these labels on the cigarette packets that scare you even more) and even the liker's remorse (clicking the like button in facebook). In all cases you realize that you have done something wrong, so you simply do it again.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: So you mean people repeat what they do because they felt bad about it? That's sounds counterintuitive.  
> **username_5**: Or they felt good about it.  
> **username_5**: This just one very simple explanation. Offcourse, there are many other explanations.  

---

