Why some healthy habits still take so much effort

Kimberly More
Blair Saunders

School of Psychology and Neuroscience

Press/Media: Relating to Research

Period	5 Dec 2025

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

Title	Why some healthy habits still take so much effort
Degree of recognition	International
Media name/outlet	Psyche Magazine
Media type	Print
Date	5/12/25
Description	Contrary to classic habit science, certain behaviours never become easy. Recognising this can help you stick with them
URL	https://psyche.co/ideas/why-some-healthy-habits-still-take-so-much-effort
Persons	Kimberly More, Blair Saunders

Related content

Datasets
Interaction of goal-directed and habitual processes during the development and maintenance of health (Simple Complex Behaviours OSF.R)
Dataset: Software
Interaction of goal-directed and habitual processes during the development and maintenance of health (Simple_Complex_Cleaned_ANON.xlsx)
Dataset
Longitudinal Study of Veg*n Retention / Habits, cravings and self-regulation strategies
Dataset

Activities
Higher-Order Habits for Healthy Eating
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
How to make healthy and sustainable eating stick
Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in or organising a public festival/exhibition/event

Research output
Some habits are more work than others: deliberate self-regulation strategy use increases with behavioral complexity, even for established habits
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Food cravings are associated with increased self-regulation, even in the face of strong instigation habits: a longitudinal study of the transition to plant-based eating
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review