What we repeatedly do: Evaluating the determinants and consequences of habit enactment during daily goal-pursuit.

Many theorists have stressed the benefits of goal-conducive habits. However, past research has not yet demonstrated that habits benefit goal-pursuit in daily life independently of more effortful forms of goal-pursuit. Additionally, it is unclear if habits are triggered independently of conscious self-regulatory processes. To address these issues, we conducted three intensive experience sampling studies. We found that habitual behaviours facilitated goal-progress independently of effortful goal-directed behaviours. Additionally, we evaluated three sets of predictions regarding the relationship between habits and other effortful self-regulatory processes. The goal-independent account suggests that habits function independently of planning and testing processes. The goal-dependent account suggests that habits are influenced by these processes, and the hybrid account suggests that these processes indirectly influence habits through their association with contextual cue exposure. The results were consistent with the hybrid account, in that planning and testing were associated with habit enactment, but this association was mediated by contextual cue exposure. Collectively, our results suggest that one must consider both conscious self-regulatory processes and automatic cue-response associations to understand how the benefits of goal-conducive habits are realized in daily life.