Same 20-second practice. A simple habit plan made it stick.
People say: “Can a habit plan make a practice stick?” We read the study.
Randomised controlled trial (RCT). 497 people. one 15-minute online session, then daily practice; assessed at baseline, 3 and 6 months.
A trial. Chance decided who did what.
Who: US adults 18+ recruited via social media (June 2023 - Feb 2024), English-speaking, smartphone owners; mean age 44, 52% female sex, 71% non-Hispanic White, 83% with a 4-year degree, 37% on psychiatric medication; SCT+HABITS n=250, SCT n=247
- Times practiced a week6.7 vs 5self-reported
- Mental-health symptomslowersmall, at 6 months
- Less stressnoneno clear change
More to know, from our read of the paper:
- All outcomes self-reported (practice frequency per week, automaticity, self-compassion, stress, DSM-5 Cross-Cutting symptom measure); no ecological momentary assessment and no attention/comprehension checks on the videos
- Effects small by the authors' own benchmarks (standardized beta 0.14-0.35); symptoms only differed at 6 months (beta -0.18), not at 3 months; stress never differed
- Sample skews highly educated (83% 4-year degree), mostly non-Hispanic White (71%), all smartphone owners; may not generalise
- The habit package was tested as a whole (habit video, plan with time/place/cue/barriers/rewards, daily phone alert, up to two skip days a week, visualisation); no single tool was tested on its own
The habit plan helped the practice stick.
- Set a daily phone alarmPart of the habit plan tested.
- Plan when and wherePick a time, a place, and a cue.
- Allow skip daysUp to two a week were allowed.
497 US adults learned a 20-second self-compassionate touch practice in one 15-minute online session. In this randomized trial, half also got habit tools: a daily phone alarm, a plan for when and where to practice, and up to two skip days a week. After six months, the habit group practiced nearly two more times a week, reported more self-compassion and fewer mental-health symptoms, but showed no clear change in stress. The effects were small and self-reported.
Susman ES, Chen S, Keltner D, Harvey AG (2026). Habit-formation strategies enhance long-term outcomes of a self-compassionate touch micropractice: a randomized controlled trial. Scientific Reports.
Design: Randomised controlled trial (RCT) · preregistered randomized controlled trial (1:1, parallel), two active arms: self-compassionate touch alone (SCT) vs the same plus habit-formation tools (SCT+HABITS); intention-to-treat multilevel models; registered NCT05866718
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-63457-4
Goals:
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