Self-efficacy in habit building: how general and habit-specific self-efficacy influence behavioral automatization and motivational interference
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In this article, we investigate the role of self-efficacy (SE) in intentional habit building. We analyzed event sampling data from a habit building app we created that helps define and track habit data. We used hierarchical growth curve modeling and multilevel mediation to test our hypotheses. In a first study, N = 91 university students built new study habits over a period of 6 weeks in a controlled study. We found that the trait-like (Level 2) general self-efficacy predicted automaticity (i.e., habit strength) but not the experience of motivational interference (MI). In a second study with real user data, N = 265 idiographic habits have been analyzed. The specific SE associated with these habits – habit-specific self-efficacy (Level 1, HSE) – was measured during habit formation. We found that lagged HSE predicted automaticity and that lagged automaticity predicted HSE, indicating a positive feedback mechanism in habit building. Furthermore, we found that lagged HSE predicted less MI during habit performance. A multilevel mediation analysis showed significant effects of lagged HSE (Level 1) and aggregated HSE (Level 2) on MI, which were both partially mediated by automaticity. These results show the importance of defining the specificity of SE beliefs and how they interact with automaticity in the habit building process.
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Automaticity is associated with less want conflicts and less motivational interference during habit performance and with more habit-specific self-efficacy.
“Automaticity is associated with less want conflicts (i.e., wanting to do something else) and less motivational interference (Stojanovic et al., 2020) during habit performance and with more habit-specific self-efficacy (Stojanovic et al., 2021).”
From Context Stability in Habit Building Increases Automaticity and Goal Attainment (2022) · cites this paper as Stojanovic et al., 2021
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Research works printed but not linked: 1
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Context Stability in Habit Building Increases Automaticity and Goal Attainment
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Stojanovic, M., Fries, S., & Grund, A.
- Affiliations
- Bielefeld University (DE)
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- Corresponding author
- Stojanovic, Marco
- Venue
- Frontiers in Psychology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2021-05-07
- Volume
- 12
- Pages
- 643753-643753
- ISSN
- 1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8137900
- OpenAlex
- W3160604414
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 2.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Luxembourg) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PUB – Publications at Bielefeld University (Bielefeld University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Universität Bielefeld
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Keywords
- self-efficacy, general self-efficacy, habit strength, habit formation, positive feedback loop, study habits
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