<p>Here are some excerpts from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wikipedia</a> you might find helpful for the (somewhat too-) general question:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A habit...tends to occur subconsciously.[(Butler &amp; Hope, 1995)]...[Andrews (1903)]...defined [habits as]: &quot;...acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience.&quot; Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks. Habits are sometimes compulsory...Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioural patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways...but it is possible to form new habits through repetition [(<a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/habit-formation" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Rosenthal / Psychology Today</a>)].</p>
<p>As behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. This increases the automaticity of the behavior in that context [(<a href="http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/wood.neal.2007psychrev_a_new_look_at_habits_and_the_interface_between_habits_and_goals.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wood &amp; Neal, 2007</a>)]...</p>
<p>Habit formation can be slow. Lally[, Van Jaarsveld, Potts, and Wardle] (2010) found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days...</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>References</strong></p>
<p>Andrews, B. R. (1908). Habit. <em>American Journal of Psychology, 14</em>(2), 121–149. Available online, URL: <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/1412711" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.jstor.org/stable/1412711</a>.</p>
<p>Butler, G., &amp; Hope, T. (1995). <em>Managing your mind: The mental fitness guide</em>. Oxford Paperbacks.</p>
<p>Lally, P., Van Jaarsveld, C. H., Potts, H. W., &amp; Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. <em>European Journal of Social Psychology, 40</em>(6), 998–1009.</p>
<p>Wood, W., &amp; Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. <em>Psychological Review, 114</em>(4), 843–863. Available online, URL: <a href="http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/wood.neal.2007psychrev_a_new_look_at_habits_and_the_interface_between_habits_and_goals.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/wood.neal.2007psychrev_a_new_look_at_habits_and_the_interface_between_habits_and_goals.pdf</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-08T01:03:11.340Z
Sorry this isn't a better answer. I spent a couple hours past this version, including some effort to flesh out the references section with links to freely available articles and to improve the Wikipedia page itself, but...my browser crashed, and I lost all that work. I'm a little too bummed and short on time to recreate my lost work. I mostly cut out the irrelevant parts and looked up full text links on Google Scholar, but you can do that for yourself, so I'll leave it to you. Feel free to edit if you can improve this.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-08T00:59:45.353Z
2014-02-08T00:59:45.353Z
2020-06-17T09:55:31.633Z
Nick Stauner
<p>Humans have the tendency to develop habits. Habits of an individual can be different, same, or unique.</p>

<p>Some have a habit of talking too much (chatty), drawing a box around the answer of mathematical problem, etc.</p>

<p>Why does <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit#Habit_formation" rel="nofollow"><em>regular repetition become automatic or habitual</em></a>?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-07T20:40:36.397Z
There are too many possible answers, and good answers could easily get too long for this format. Please add details to narrow the answer set or to isolate an issue that can be answered in a few paragraphs. I like the general question though, so I won't mind if others find it acceptable, and I encourage people to attempt answers regardless of whether this gets edited, unless others vote to put it on hold too. In the meantime, consider consulting [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit#Habit_formation) and other questions tagged [tag:habituation] for some hopefully useful hints.
Nick Stauner
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-07T21:18:21.463Z
@NickStauner I had no idea it would be too-broad. Is it specific now?
Bleeding Fingers
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-02-07T21:27:47.883Z
IMHO, you haven't really narrowed it down, but if you're only interested in the general question, maybe a *relatively* brief, general answer will suffice. I'm working on excerpting it from Wikipedia myself, hypocritically enough! Finding it surprisingly useful to do so too, being a motivation researcher and theorist myself...
Nick Stauner
<developmental-psychology><habituation>
Why does regular repetition become a habit?
Bleeding Fingers
# Why does regular repetition become a habit?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-02-07)

Humans have the tendency to develop habits. Habits of an individual can be different, same, or unique.

Some have a habit of talking too much (chatty), drawing a box around the answer of mathematical problem, etc.

Why does [*regular repetition become automatic or habitual*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit#Habit_formation)?

**Tags:** developmental-psychology, habituation

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There are too many possible answers, and good answers could easily get too long for this format. Please add details to narrow the answer set or to isolate an issue that can be answered in a few paragraphs. I like the general question though, so I won't mind if others find it acceptable, and I encourage people to attempt answers regardless of whether this gets edited, unless others vote to put it on hold too. In the meantime, consider consulting [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit#Habit_formation) and other questions tagged [tag:habituation] for some hopefully useful hints.  
> **username_0**: @NickStauner I had no idea it would be too-broad. Is it specific now?  
> **username_1**: IMHO, you haven't really narrowed it down, but if you're only interested in the general question, maybe a *relatively* brief, general answer will suffice. I'm working on excerpting it from Wikipedia myself, hypocritically enough! Finding it surprisingly useful to do so too, being a motivation researcher and theorist myself...  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-02-08. Score: 2

Here are some excerpts from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit) you might find helpful for the (somewhat too-) general question:

> A habit...tends to occur subconsciously.[(Butler & Hope, 1995)]...[Andrews (1903)]...defined [habits as]: "...acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience." Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks. Habits are sometimes compulsory...Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioural patterns we repeat are imprinted in our neural pathways...but it is possible to form new habits through repetition [([Rosenthal / Psychology Today](http://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/habit-formation))].
>
> As behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. This increases the automaticity of the behavior in that context [([Wood & Neal, 2007](http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/wood.neal.2007psychrev_a_new_look_at_habits_and_the_interface_between_habits_and_goals.pdf))]...
>
> Habit formation can be slow. Lally[, Van Jaarsveld, Potts, and Wardle] (2010) found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days...

**References**

Andrews, B. R. (1908). Habit. *American Journal of Psychology, 14*(2), 121–149. Available online, URL: <http://www.jstor.org/stable/1412711>.

Butler, G., & Hope, T. (1995). *Managing your mind: The mental fitness guide*. Oxford Paperbacks.

Lally, P., Van Jaarsveld, C. H., Potts, H. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. *European Journal of Social Psychology, 40*(6), 998–1009.

Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. *Psychological Review, 114*(4), 843–863. Available online, URL: <http://dornsife.usc.edu/assets/sites/545/docs/Wendy_Wood_Research_Articles/Habits/wood.neal.2007psychrev_a_new_look_at_habits_and_the_interface_between_habits_and_goals.pdf>.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Sorry this isn't a better answer. I spent a couple hours past this version, including some effort to flesh out the references section with links to freely available articles and to improve the Wikipedia page itself, but...my browser crashed, and I lost all that work. I'm a little too bummed and short on time to recreate my lost work. I mostly cut out the irrelevant parts and looked up full text links on Google Scholar, but you can do that for yourself, so I'll leave it to you. Feel free to edit if you can improve this.  

---

