What Makes Us Stick To Our Bad Habits?

[almaty 19]

Why do we ignore public warnings and advertisements about the dangers of smoking, drinking alcohol, overeating, stressing out and otherwise persist in habits and behaviors that we know aren't good for us?

Because, says a University of Alberta researcher, we aren't getting at the underlying reasons of why we persist in bad habits or risky behavior.

In two recent case studies asking people to rate the danger of various types of risks including lifestyle habits, it was clear that they understood what types of behavior are the riskiest, but that knowledge wasn't enough to motivate them to change their ways, said Dr. Cindy Jardine, an assistant professor of rural sociology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

"The results showed that in fact, people have a very realistic understanding of the various risks in their lives. We as risk communicators--scientists, academics, government agencies--have to get beyond the thought of 'If they only understood the facts, they'd change.' They do understand the facts, but we need to look at other factors we haven't been looking at before."

Jardine presented her findings recently at the RiskCom 2006 Conference in Sweden.

In the first case study conducted by Jardine, 1,200 people in Alberta were surveyed in both 1994 and 2005. Lifestyle habits like cigarette smoking, stress and sun-tanning were ranked as the top three risks, being considered more dangerous to the Alberta public than technology or pollution hazards such as chemical contamination, ozone depletion and sour gas wells. Cigarette smoking was ranked as "very dangerous" by 53 per cent of those surveyed in 1994 and by 60 per cent of the respondents surveyed in 2005. Stress was ranked as "very dangerous" by 54 per cent of the people in 1994 and by 65 per cent in 2005. In contrast, sour gas wells were ranked as "very dangerous" by only 24 per cent of the people in 1994 and by 28 per cent in 2005.

The second case study, involving a survey conducted in two northern Aboriginal communities in Canada revealed similar results. Again, lifestyle risks were seen as the most hazardous. Almost everyone in the communities ranked risk associated with alcohol use (96 to 100 per cent of the respondents) and smoking (80 per cent of respondents) as "very dangerous". Risks associated with trace contaminants and doing traditional activities in a harsh environment were ranked as less risky.

When asked about personal and community health issues, the respondents in the second survey freely acknowledged that they knew about the hazards of risky behavior like choosing to drive while impaired, about secondhand cigarette smoke and about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, when unborn babies are damaged by their mothers' alcohol consumption.

"So they know alcohol is bad, but risk communicators aren't looking at the underlying reasons why people drink--poverty, unemployment, there is a history of abuse in some of these families. If we could get to the underlying issues of what turns people to drink, we would do better in fully understanding the context of their lives," Jardine said. "If we're just telling people what we know about the health risks, chances are we aren't going to solve any problems."

Factors such as the need for social acceptance and plain old human defiance play roles in persistent bad habits, the study suggests. "We get a sense of belonging that is important to us. We can see ourselves as part of a social structure; it's very hard to change a behavior if it is still accepted socially," Jardine said. "For instance, stress is bad for us, yet we wear it as a badge of honor. It is seen as a socially desirable thing to be overworking. We don't seem to have the same respect for people who work a 40-hour week."

As well, we don't like to hear about what we shouldn't be doing, so we rationalize our bad habits, Jardine said. "We all have a bit of recalcitrant child in us. We keep smoking with the excuse 'It hasn't hurt me so far, or 'It helps control my stress or weight'."

Until the psychology behind risky behavior is really understood, people won't give up their vices, no matter how much they know, Jardine said. She suggests researchers and other risk communicators need to talk to the people they're trying to reach, before forming messages. "We need to listen more to the things that really concern people and to look at social norms and why they are starting to dictate our actions. We as a society have to rethink and challenge those norms."

[pedroh 21]

I just look at the positive side of everything.. lolol

so I know alcohol makes me cool.. and that's it... im an optimistic person

LOLOLOL

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I just look at the positive side of everything.. lolol

so I know alcohol makes me cool.. and that's it... im an optimistic person

LOLOLOL

Cigarettes make you look cool too. Remember that.

[almaty 19]

cigs and etoh= coolest

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

"So they know alcohol is bad, but risk communicators aren't looking at the underlying reasons why people drink--poverty, unemployment, there is a history of abuse in some of these families. If we could get to the underlying issues of what turns people to drink, we would do better in fully understanding the context of their lives," Jardine said. "If we're just telling people what we know about the health risks, chances are we aren't going to solve any problems."

I don't know about this lady but I drink because I like it!

[Mags 112]

Don't know what you're all talking about.

*shoves choccy digestive in gob*

[one...two...tree 2,762]

"For instance, stress is bad for us, yet we wear it as a badge of honor. It is seen as a socially desirable thing to be overworking. We don't seem to have the same respect for people who work a 40-hour week."

Too true.

[pedroh 21]

I just look at the positive side of everything.. lolol

so I know alcohol makes me cool.. and that's it... im an optimistic person

LOLOLOL

Cigarettes make you look cool too. Remember that.

hell yea..

[almaty 19]

"For instance, stress is bad for us, yet we wear it as a badge of honor. It is seen as a socially desirable thing to be overworking. We don't seem to have the same respect for people who work a 40-hour week."

Too true.

i agree on that in some places i worked..plus, pack up with mountains of work for the week-end and vacations...

[Peikko 1,575]

People often stick with bad habits because there isn't an immediate pay back. It's all very well to say that you have an x chance of developing x nasty disease if you don't quit/cut down etc but most people seem to think that either they aren't going to be that statistic, or that by the time it happens to them they'll be too old to care...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

"For instance, stress is bad for us, yet we wear it as a badge of honor. It is seen as a socially desirable thing to be overworking. We don't seem to have the same respect for people who work a 40-hour week."

Too true.

i agree on that in some places i worked..plus, pack up with mountains of work for the week-end and vacations...

Changing such attitudes can happen, but it takes enough rebel hearts to buck the system.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

I VJ too much. It keeps me from more important things I should be doing.

Maybe I should just quit. I'll be back in late summer for conditions removal. Adios VJ.

[ceriserose 1]

I VJ too much. It keeps me from more important things I should be doing.

Maybe I should just quit. I'll be back in late summer for conditions removal. Adios VJ.

That'll be the day.

I suspect you'll be back...probably when your "big heart" status is imminent.

[almaty 19]

I VJ too much. It keeps me from more important things I should be doing.

Maybe I should just quit. I'll be back in late summer for conditions removal. Adios VJ.

That'll be the day.

I suspect you'll be back...probably when your "big heart" status is imminent.

sister ceCrise..brother arijit is a vj junkie

[MichelleandCraig 1]

People often stick with bad habits because there isn't an immediate pay back. It's all very well to say that you have an x chance of developing x nasty disease if you don't quit/cut down etc but most people seem to think that either they aren't going to be that statistic, or that by the time it happens to them they'll be too old to care...

I agree with everything except what's bolded. I think the first part is true...take ciggy smoking...I hate that I do it, I don't want to do it, I know it's bad for me, and it's NOT really socially acceptable nowdays. Not much at all, and especially not like it was in the 60s, 70s...it's a habit that's hard to break. I know it can be done, but it is tough. I think the no immediate payback thing is right though...the part I disagree with is...I think most people WOULD care when they were older...I don't think *most* people ever get *too old* to care...you just tend to think..it won't happen to me for at least 10,20,30 years...I'll worry about it then. Or more like, if you're like me, I'll have quit long before then, so it'll be ok. Obviously, that's not correct or rational thinking, but I have thought things like that. Especially 10 years or so ago, and when I was 18 just starting to smoke. My coworker died a couple of years ago from lung cancer...she was 39. We had a benefit for her, and she stood up to give me a hug so say thanks there...and I swore up and down to myself that I was going to quit right then and there. Did I? No. I worry about it all the time, but it hasn't stopped me yet. I really, really need to find a way to force myself to put them down. I did quit while I was pregnant, as soon as I found out, so why I ever started up again I don't know. I'm fully aware it's about the most stupid thing I ever started and I need some *real* willpower to quit. Guess you just have to do it, because no time is ever a 'good' time. M.