Results A four-item automaticity subscale ( the ‘ Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index ’ ; ‘ SRBAI ’ ) was found to be reliable and sensitive to two hypothesised effects of habit on behaviour : a habit-behaviour correlation , and a moderating effect of habit on the intention-behaviour relationship .
Conclusion The SRBAI offers a parsimonious measure that adequately captures habitual behaviour patterns .
The SRBAI may be of particular utility in predicting future behaviour and in studies tracking habit formation or disruption
Background The twelve-item Self-Report Habit Index ( SRHI ) is the most popular measure of energy-balance related habits .
This measure characterises habit by automatic activation , behavioural frequency , and relevance to self-identity .
Previous empirical research suggests that the SRHI may be abbreviated with no losses in reliability or predictive utility .
Drawing on recent theorising suggesting that automaticity is the ‘ active ingredient ’ of habit-behaviour relationships , we tested whether an automaticity-specific SRHI subscale could capture habit-based behaviour patterns in self-report data .
The automatic component of habit in health behavior: habit as cue-contingent automaticity.
OBJECTIVE Habit might be usefully characterized as a form of automaticity that involves the association of a cue and a response . Three studies examined habitual automaticity in regard to different aspects of the cue-response relationship characteristic of unhealthy and healthy habits . DESIGN , MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES , AND RESULTS In each study , habitual automaticity was assessed by the  Self-Report Habit Index ( SRHI ) . In Study 1 SRHI scores correlated with attentional bias to smoking cues in a Stroop task . Study 2 examined the ability of a habit cue to elicit an unwanted habit response . In a prospect i ve field study , habitual automaticity in relation to smoking when drinking alcohol in a licensed public house ( pub ) predicted the likelihood of cigarette-related action slips 2 months later after smoking in pubs had become illegal . In Study 3 experimental group participants formed an implementation  intention to floss  in response to a specified situational cue . Habitual automaticity of dental flossing  was rapidly enhanced compared to controls . CONCLUSION The studies provided three different demonstrations of the importance of cues in the automatic operation of habits . Habitual automaticity assessed by the SRHI captured aspects of a habit that go beyond mere frequency or consistency of the behavior
Results A four-item automaticity subscale ( the ‘ Self-Report Behavioural Automaticity Index ’ ; ‘ SRBAI ’ ) was found to be reliable and sensitive to two hypothesised effects of habit on behaviour : a habit-behaviour correlation , and a moderating effect of habit on the intention-behaviour relationship .
Conclusion The SRBAI offers a parsimonious measure that adequately captures habitual behaviour patterns .
The SRBAI may be of particular utility in predicting future behaviour and in studies tracking habit formation or disruption
Background The twelve-item Self-Report Habit Index ( SRHI ) is the most popular measure of energy-balance related habits .
This measure characterises habit by automatic activation , behavioural frequency , and relevance to self-identity .
Previous empirical research suggests that the SRHI may be abbreviated with no losses in reliability or predictive utility .
Drawing on recent theorising suggesting that automaticity is the ‘ active ingredient ’ of habit-behaviour relationships , we tested whether an automaticity-specific SRHI subscale could capture habit-based behaviour patterns in self-report data .