Habits, attitudes and behaviours in transition (HABITs); a field experiment testing the Habit discontinuity Hypothesis.

800 people in a city in the east of England took part in a field experiment following a repeated measures design, with two between-participant factors ‘moved home’ (new movers/non-movers) and ‘intervention (ecological intervention/no intervention). Data was collected at the beginning and end of an eight-week period, during which two of the groups received a bespoke ecological intervention delivered by Peterborough Environment City Trust. The theory being tested was that moving to a new home is a transition to a new phase in life, similar to leaving school, starting a family or retirement or moving home. According to the Habit Discontinuity Hypothesis (Verplanken, Walker, Davies, & Jurasek, 2008; Verplanken & Wood, 2006), this move results in old habitual patterns being temporarily disrupted, also they may also have a need to rethink and negotiate new behaviours and choices. Therefore, while old habits ‘unfreeze’, replacements have to be found, and interventions may help these individuals to do just that. The hypothesis tested was that the intervention is more effective among the recently moved households. The study investigated the effects with respect to a range of sustainable activities, and a range of additional dependent variables, such as attitudes, intentions, and engagement with the environment. Some preliminary results and implications are presented and discussed.