Habits can either benefit or hurt the goals a person sets for themselves. There are a number of habits possessed by individuals that can be classified as nervous habits. These include nail- biting, stammering, sniffling, and banging the head. They are known as symptoms of an emotional state and are generally based upon conditions of anxiety, insecurity, inferiority and tension. These habits are often formed at a young age and may be because of a need for attention. When trying to overcome a nervous habit it is important to resolve the cause of the nervous as nervousness causes anxiety. Anxiety is a disorder known for excessive and unexpected worry that negatively impacts an individual’s daily life, and routines.
Many techniques exist for removing established bad habits, for example withdrawal of reinforces. Identifying and removing factors that trigger and reinforce the habit. Recognizing and eliminating bad habits as soon as possible is advised. Habit elimination becomes more difficult with age because repetitions reinforce habits cumulatively over the lifespan. According to Charles Duhigg, there is a loop that includes a cue, routine and reward for every habit. An example of a habit loop is TV program ends (cue), go to the fridge (routine), and eat a snack (reward). The key to changing habits is to identify our cue and modify our routine and reward.
The sooner one recognizes these bad habits, the easier it is to fix them. Rather than merely attempting to eliminate a bad habit, it may be more productive to seek to replace it with a healthier coping mechanism.
A key factor in distinguishing a bad habit from an addiction or mental disease is willpower. If a person can easily control over the behavior, then it is a habit. Good intentions can override the negative effect of bad habits, but their effect seems to be independent and additive—the bad habits remain, but are subdued rather than cancelled.
Zeigarnik Effect for Breaking Bad Habits-
The Zeigarnik effect is a psychological phenomenon describing a tendency to remember interrupted or incomplete tasks or events more easily than tasks that have been completed. This phenomenon was first noticed in the early 1900s and has been reproduced in a number of studies. One way to overcome the bad habit of procrastination is to put the Zeigarnik effect to work.
The Zeigarnik effect was named after its founder, Russian psychiatrist and psychologist Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik. While dining at a restaurant in the 1920s, Zeigarnik noticed waiters were able to keep track of complex orders and unpaid meals, but once the orders were filled and paid for, the waiters were unable to recall detailed information about the orders. Intrigued, she decided to study the phenomenon via a series of experiments in her lab.
In one of her experiments, she asked a group of 138 children to complete a series of simple tasks, puzzles, and arithmetic problems. She allowed the children to complete half of the tasks and interrupted them during the remaining tasks. She investigated their recall after an hour’s delay and discovered 110 of the 138 children had better recall for the interrupted tasks than the completed tasks. In a related experiment involving adults, the participants were able to recall unfinished tasks 90% better than completed tasks.
The Zeigarnik effect has since been studied by many other researchers, with some able to replicate Zeigarnik’s findings and others unable to do so. Several models have been proposed to explain the effect. Some theories mention the cognitive tension that arises from having an unfinished task and the need to keep the task in mind in order to eventually complete it and release this internal tension.
Studies indicate other factors such as motivation, reward expectancy, time of interruption and the achievability of the required task may have a significant impact on the strength of the Zeigarnik effect.
Application of Zeigarnik Effect-
The Zeigarnik effect is employed in many aspects of modern culture. It may differ slightly by industry, but the fundamental principles remain the same:
- Initiate or draw attention to an interest-arousing event.
- Allow people to participate in some way.
- Terminate the event prematurely to create cognitive tension.
- Invite participants to return for the resolution. Common applications of the concept include:
- Generating effective headlines or teasers in the news industry
- Creating attention-grabbing trailers in the movie industry
- Using cliffhangers (An ending or stopping point calculated to leave a story unresolved, in order to create suspense) in the production of serialized books or television shows
- Designing multiple and interrelated quests in the gaming industry
- Creating click-inducing ads to promote online sales Here we will discuss some of its effect in details.
a. The Zeigarnik effect for personal use:
Many people experience the disturbing thoughts that come with an unfinished or interrupted task. However, there are many personal benefits to be achieved if people learn to use these thoughts effectively and the internal desire to get the job done.
People who are prone to procrastination may learn the importance of starting tasks early or of simply starting anywhere they can. The cognitive tension associated with the Zeigarnik effect will help to pull these individuals back to work until the job is completed on time. Productivity may also be increased for individuals who work promptly but have problems with multitasking. A thorough understanding of the cognitive intrusion associated to uncompleted tasks will help workers to understand that each new task is essentially an interruption of what was previously being done. Workers may be therefore motivated to set reasonable limits on the amount of multitasking they do, thereby increasing work performance while reducing cognitive overload and frustration.
Students may also take advantage of the Zeigarnik in their studies. By designing study sessions with appropriate breaks involving unrelated activities, students are likely to experience more disturbing thoughts about the topics they cover and may be better able to reflect on and consolidate these thoughts. A prolonged study period without breaks is typically less effective for information recall.
b. The Zeigarnik effect in mental health
The Zeigarnik effect can play an important role in any person’s mental condition. Incomplete tasks, particularly those with negative consequences, often lead to frequent and stressful intrusive thoughts. These thoughts can reduce sleep, increase anxiety and further reduce a person’s mental and emotional resources, which may lead to maladaptive behaviours.
On the other hand, Zeigarnik effect can promote mental well-being by motivating an individual to complete their tasks well in time, develop better habits as well as resolve lingering issues. The successful completion of assigned tasks can provide a sense of accomplishment that boosts self-confidence and self-esteem. The development of productive work and study habits can also contribute to a personal sense of maturity and self-growth. Additionally, a person who can find closure for stress-inducing events will likely experience a long-term positive impact on psychological well-being.