“…Instead, it is likely many frequent and simple day-to-day behaviors, especially those that occur in regular contexts, are governed by highly efficient, automatic processes like habit , assessed most commonly as the extent to which an individual views their behavior as automatic and activated without conscious thought. In terms of general health behavior, habit has shown consistent effects on behavior, beyond those effects already accounted for by intention ( Hagger et al, 2023 ; Phipps et al, 2020 ; Sas et al, 2023 ); an effect also demonstrated in COVID-19 preventive behaviors such as hand washing, facial mask wearing, avoiding crowds ( Chang et al, 2022 ; Ohtomo and Kimura, 2022 ), and physical distancing ( Hagger et al, 2022 ). This is in line with theory, as habit is expected to have particularly strong effects in consistent and stable contexts ( Verplanken, 2006 ), and many COVID-19 preventive behaviors require consistent and regular action (e.g.…”