Further Reading — Chapter 29: Habit Formation and Behavior Change

Foundational Academic Sources

Lally, P., van Jaarsveld, C. H. M., Potts, H. W. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998–1009. The study measuring automaticity development in a real-world setting — the source of the 18–254 day range (median 66 days) that directly contradicts the popular "21 days" claim. Participants chose a new behavior to perform daily and rated automaticity on a validated scale across twelve weeks. Essential for understanding realistic habit formation timelines and the contextual consistency variable.

Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. The definitive meta-analysis on implementation intentions — analyzing 94 independent tests and finding a medium-to-large effect size (d = 0.65) on goal achievement, with particularly strong effects for difficult behaviors and clinical populations. Establishes implementation intentions as one of the most empirically supported behavior change interventions. Essential reading for anyone working with behavior change clinically or personally.

Wood, W., & Neal, D. T. (2007). A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychological Review, 114(4), 843–863. A comprehensive theoretical account of the relationship between habits and goals — the conditions under which habits develop, how they are activated by context, and how they interact with (and sometimes conflict with) deliberate goal-directed behavior. More technical than the popular accounts but provides the theoretical foundation for much of the chapter.

Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1983). Stages and processes of self-change of smoking: Toward an integrative model of change. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(3), 390–395. The original paper introducing the Transtheoretical Model from smoking cessation research. The stage definitions and stage-matching principles are introduced here. Historically important and foundational for clinical behavior change work.

Graybiel, A. M. (2008). Habits, rituals, and the evaluative brain. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 31, 359–387. The neuroscientist whose MIT research provided the empirical foundation for the habit loop concept. Graybiel's work on basal ganglia chunking — the process by which behavioral sequences become consolidated into automatic routines — is the science behind Duhigg's popularization. More technical than most of the other sources on this list; the recommended starting point for readers who want the neuroscience.

Books for General Readers

Duhigg, C. (2012). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House. The book that popularized the habit loop framework for a general audience, drawing on Graybiel's MIT research, Procter & Gamble's product development, and other case studies. Well-written, narrative-driven, and practically useful. The chapter on keystone habits is particularly valuable. Some of the popular-level claims about habit formation speed are not fully consistent with the research (particularly the "habit loop can always be changed" optimism), but the core framework is solid.

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones. Avery. The synthesis of identity-based habit formation, the four laws of behavior change, habit stacking, and environment design. Arguably the most practically useful single book on habit formation for a general reader — the framework is coherent, the research is correctly represented, and the tools are specific. The identity-based approach is Clear's most original contribution, and it is well-supported by self-concept consistency research.

Fogg, B. J. (2019). Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. BJ Fogg's account of the Tiny Habits methodology — the behavioral motivation model (B = MAP), the recipe structure (anchor + tiny behavior + celebration), and the practical application across hundreds of case examples from his Stanford Behavior Design Lab. Fogg's emphasis on celebration as a technical mechanism, not just motivational support, is one of the book's most distinctive and most empirically grounded contributions.

Milkman, K. (2021). How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. Portfolio. Katherine Milkman's synthesis of her research program on behavior change, covering temptation bundling, fresh start effects, commitment devices, procrastination, and social influence. More research-heavy than Clear or Fogg, and a useful complement to both — it addresses the specific psychological barriers to change that the implementation tools are designed to overcome. The "fresh start effect" chapter is particularly interesting.

Ariely, D., & Wertenbroch, K. (2002; summarized in Ariely, D. (2008). Predictably Irrational. HarperCollins.) The research on commitment devices — people's willingness to voluntarily impose deadlines and restrictions on their own future behavior when they are aware of their self-control limitations. The academic paper ("Procrastination, Deadlines, and Performance," Psychological Science, 2002) is the technical source; Ariely's popular book summarizes the findings accessibly.

On Self-Compassion and Behavior Change

Neff, K. D. (2011). Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself. William Morrow. Already listed in Chapter 12's further reading, but relevant here through the research on self-compassion and behavioral recovery after setbacks. Neff's research on treating oneself with the same kindness one would offer a friend is directly applicable to the relapse-response problem in behavior change.

Homan, K. J., & Tylka, T. L. (2015). Self-compassion moderates body comparison and appearance self-worth's inverse relationships with body appreciation. Body Image, 15, 1–7. One of several studies connecting self-compassion to improved body image and reduced disordered eating — a domain where the harsh self-criticism/relapse cycle is particularly well-documented. Referenced here as an example of the broader research connecting self-compassion to health behavior change outcomes.

On Social Influence and Behavior Change

Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2009). Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives. Little, Brown. The popular account of Christakis and Fowler's research on social network contagion of health behaviors — obesity, smoking, happiness, exercise, and more. The three-degree influence finding (behavior influence extends to friends of friends of friends) is presented accessibly here. Essential for understanding the social dimension of habit formation.

Milkman, K. L., Gromet, D., Ho, H., Kay, J. S., Lee, T. W., Pandiloski, P., ... & Duckworth, A. L. (2021). Megastudies improve the impact of applied behavioural science. Nature, 600, 478–483. A large-scale "megastudy" testing 53 different behavior change interventions on gym attendance in a sample of more than 60,000 people. The study provides the most comprehensive single-study evidence base for comparing the relative effectiveness of different behavior change techniques. The finding that social comparisons and planning prompts outperform most other techniques is relevant for practitioners.

The Character Reading Lists

Jordan is working through: - Atomic Habits (Clear) — found it recommended in a leadership development reading list; read the identity chapter first; the "who is the person who does this?" question is now in his decision-making toolkit - Tiny Habits (Fogg) — Dev gave it to him after the wind-down practice started working; he's reading it backward, from the examples to the theory

Amara is working through: - How to Change (Milkman) — assigned in her behavior change course; applying the fresh start effects research to her clinical work with clients in contemplation stage - The Power of Habit (Duhigg) — Sasha recommended it; they're reading it in parallel and comparing notes on their own habit loops in their regular calls