Wendy Wood Books
Wendy Wood is a social psychologist and Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on habit formation, behavior change, and the intersection of psychology and everyday life.
Known for: Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Books by Wendy Wood
Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Why do people keep repeating behaviors they no longer even want? Why is it so easy to fall into unhealthy routines, yet so hard to maintain good intentions? In Good Habits, Bad Habits, psychologist Wendy Wood answers these questions by showing that much of everyday life is driven not by conscious decisions, but by habits shaped through repetition and context. The book challenges the comforting idea that success depends mainly on willpower, discipline, or motivation. Instead, Wood argues that lasting change happens when we understand how habits form and learn to redesign the environments that trigger them. Drawing on decades of research in psychology and behavioral science, Wood explains how habits emerge, why they persist even when goals change, and how people can build systems that make desired actions easier and undesirable actions harder. Her authority comes from a long academic career studying automatic behavior, self-control, and decision-making. The result is a practical, evidence-based guide to behavior change that feels both scientifically grounded and deeply useful. For anyone trying to exercise regularly, eat better, work more effectively, or break damaging patterns, this book offers a smarter path to change.
Read SummaryKey Insights from Wendy Wood
Habits Drive More Life Than Intentions
A surprising truth sits at the center of Wendy Wood’s book: much of what people do each day is not the result of active choice. It is the result of habit. We tend to imagine ourselves as deliberate decision-makers who weigh options and act according to goals, values, and plans. But in reality, repea...
From Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Willpower Is Helpful But Deeply Limited
If willpower were enough, most people would already live exactly as they intend. Wood’s research reveals a more honest and useful picture: motivation matters, but it is unreliable, uneven, and often overwhelmed by habit. People frequently overestimate the role of determination in long-term change an...
From Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Context Is the Hidden Engine
One of the most powerful ideas in Good Habits, Bad Habits is that context often matters more than desire. Habits are deeply tied to the environments in which they are learned. Places, times, objects, and social situations become signals that activate behaviors automatically. Once this connection for...
From Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Repetition Builds Automaticity Over Time
People often imagine habit formation as a dramatic moment, but Wood emphasizes that habits usually emerge gradually through repetition. A behavior becomes automatic not because you strongly declare a new identity one day, but because you keep performing the same action in a stable context until it r...
From Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Bad Habits Survive Changed Goals
One of the most frustrating features of human behavior is that habits can continue even after the original reason for them disappears. Wood explains that this happens because habits, once established, are less dependent on current goals. You may no longer want the outcome, but the cue still triggers...
From Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
Friction Shapes Behavior More Than Motivation
A small inconvenience can stop a behavior, and a small convenience can create one. This is one of the book’s most practical lessons. Wood highlights how friction, the ease or difficulty of performing an action, strongly influences whether habits take hold or fade. People usually think major change r...
From Good Habits, Bad Habits: The Science of Making Positive Changes That Stick
About Wendy Wood
Wendy Wood is a social psychologist and Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on habit formation, behavior change, and the intersection of psychology and everyday life. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on th...
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Wendy Wood is a social psychologist and Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on habit formation, behavior change, and the intersection of psychology and everyday life. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on th...
Wendy Wood is a social psychologist and Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on habit formation, behavior change, and the intersection of psychology and everyday life. She is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on the science of habits.
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Wendy Wood is a social psychologist and Provost Professor of Psychology and Business at the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on habit formation, behavior change, and the intersection of psychology and everyday life.
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