Skip to main content
GGD PARC
Population Studies Center
  • About
    • PSC within Penn
    • Services
      • Administrative Services
      • Library & Information Services
      • IRB & Human Subjects
      • Computing Services
        • Social Sciences Computing
        • Room Reservations
        • Office of Software Licensing
        • Technology Purchasing Guide
        • Computer Lab Information
        • Instructional Technology & Pedagogy Support Services for Faculty
        • Latest Supported Computing Products from ISC
        • Computing Help
      • Resources
    • Information for Visitors
    • Contact Us
    • PSC Space
      • PSC Conference Room, Collaboration Space, and Commons Reservation Form
  • People
    • Research Associates
    • Research Affiliates
    • Postdocs & Visitors
    • GGD Faculty
    • Spotlight
    • Students
      • Students (Alphabetical)
    • Alumni
      • Alumni (Alphabetical)
    • Staff
    • Students on the Job Market
    • Emeritus Research Associates
  • Research
    • Primary Research Areas
      • New Dynamics of Population Diversity
      • Formal Demography and Demographic Methods
      • Child Development and Human Endowments
      • Structures of Inequality and the Life Course
      • Population and the Environment
      • International Population Research
    • Research Projects
    • Pilot Awards
      • Pilot Project Competition
    • Etienne van de Walle Prize
    • Penn @ PAA
  • Working Papers
  • Newsletters
  • News
    • Funding
    • Conferences & Workshops
    • NICHD Funding Opportunities
    • Videos
    • News (Admin)
  • Events
    • Colloquium
    • All Past Events
    • Past Colloquium Events
  • Ph.D. Programs
    • Demography Ph.D.
    • Sociology Ph.D.
  • Partnerships
    • Internal Allied Centers & Initiatives
    • External Allied Centers & Initiatives
    • Association of Population Centers
    • Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Science
    • NICHD Centers
    • NIA Centers

The Placeholder Effect: Using Break Days to Help Form Habits

Principal Investigator
Marissa Sharif
Aims

This research aims to test a novel intervention to help people form healthy habits, such as exercise more. In particular, we will examine how encouraging people to have “placeholders” on their break days, or days off from pursuing their goals, affects their likelihood of reaching their goals. People will be encouraged to complete a goal-consistent behavior every other day at a specified time (e.g., exercise M-W-F at 3 pm); however, on the days, they do not need to complete the goal-consistent behavior (e.g., T-Th), we will manipulate whether they are encouraged (or not) to engage in another activity during that same time (e.g., reading), what we term a placeholder. By having a placeholder, consumers may be more likely to exercise on M-W-F as the cue to engage in a target activity is activated more frequently than those without a placeholder. By more frequently activating the cue, consumers may be more likely to remember to exercise at a particular time, without getting fatigued from exercising too many days, and thus be more likely to form an automatic habit of exercising.

Abstract

Psychological research suggests that interventions that encourage routines, or stable habits, could improve individual welfare tremendously, in particular, if capable of improving behaviors and decisions about health, education, and personal finance. Established habits help reduce cognitive load such that goal-pursuit behaviors are automatic, and individuals may not need to decide every time how much to work out, what to eat, how to spend money, and how hard to study (Neal, Wood, and Drolet 2013). Three central habit-forming interventions have been found to be effective: frequent repetition, recurring contexts and associated context cues, and intermittent rewards (Wood and Neal 2016). This research might suggest then that we should encourage people to complete the same task every day at the same time in order to most likely to start a habit, such as exercising. For example, people could exercise at 5 pm for 30 minutes every day. However, while in theory this sounds appealing, we also know that this may not be realistic. Many times consumers can not physically complete some of these goal-consistent activities every day due to fatigue. Furthermore, forming stable habits can be daunting at the beginning or with limited willpower, as individuals need to consistently engage in deliberation and implementation (Gollwitzer and Sheeran 2006). Thus, people may not be able to exert enough self-control to complete these goal-consistent activities every day. Indeed, there is research to suggest that consumers actually persist more when they are encouraged to complete an activity anytime within a day rather than within a 2-hour window (Beshears et al. 2021). This research aims to help solve this problem by introducing a novel intervention to help people form healthy habits. In particular, we will examine how encouraging people to have “placeholders” on their break days, or days off from pursuing their goals, affects their likelihood of reaching their goals. People will be encouraged to complete a goalconsistent behavior every other day at a specified time (e.g., exercise M-W-F at 3 pm); however, on the days, they do not need to complete the goal-consistent behavior (e.g., T-Th), we will manipulate whether they are encouraged (or not) to engage in another activity during that same time (e.g., reading), what we term a placeholder. By having a placeholder, consumers may be more likely to exercise on M-W-F as the cue to engage in a target activity is activated more frequently than those without a placeholder. By more frequently activating the cue, consumers may be more likely to remember to exercise at a particular time, without getting fatigued from exercising too many days, and thus be more likely to form an automatic habit of exercising.

Funded By
LDI CHIBE
Award Dates
July 1, 2021 - June 30, 2022

Main navigation

nichd

Quick Links

  • IRB & Human Subjects
  • NIH Public Access Policy
  • PSC Library Catalog
  • Sociology Department
  • Economics Department
  • RESERVE SPACE

DONATE TO THE PSC

About Us

The Population Studies Center (PSC) at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) was founded in 1962 and stands as an international leader in research and training on the dynamic structure, organization, and health and well-being of human populations. The services that PSC provides have been funded by infrastructure grants awarded by the Population Dynamics Branch at Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) since 1978. The center and its associates are also supported by research grants and contracts awarded by federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and by private foundations. Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences is the administrative home of the PSC and provides generous dedicated support to the center.

Read more

Contact

Tel: 215-898-6441
Fax: 215-898-2124
239 McNeil Building
3718 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6298
[Map & Directions]
Contact Us
twitter.com/pennpsc
facebook.com/pennpsc
PSC Directory

Penn A-Z - Penn Calendar

© 2025 University of Pennsylvania
Report Accessibility Issues and Get Help