What research says about streaks, tough talk and kind words

UPSHIFT has two coin characters: a supporter who speaks gently and a coach who gives you a push. The coach’s tougher wording appears only if you choose it. Here is the research behind that design.

What we know

1. A broken streak lowers motivation

Jackie Silverman and Alixandra Barasch ran seven experiments in the US. When a tracking screen showed a streak as still going, people were more likely to keep doing the behavior than when it showed the streak as broken. The behavior itself was the same. Only the display differed. The effect was larger when people felt the break was their own fault, and weaker when the break was shown as something they could recover.

2. Feedback can backfire

Avraham Kluger and Angelo DeNisi analyzed a large body of feedback research, 607 effect sizes and 23,663 observations. On average, feedback improved performance (d=0.41), but in more than a third of cases it made performance worse. The effect tended to drop as attention shifted from the task to the self.

3. Motivation you choose lasts longer

Johan Ng and colleagues pooled 184 data sets from health settings. Support for a person’s own choices was linked with their sense of choosing for themselves, feeling capable and feeling connected to others, and also with mental and physical health. Motivation that comes from within tended to go with behavior change that lasts.

4. Missing one day matters little for habit building

A UK study that followed 96 people found that the median time for a behavior to become automatic was 66 days, with a range of 18 to 254. Missing a single occasion did not make a meaningful difference to habit building.

How to read it

• The streak and feedback findings come from experiments and reviews of them. They show that how something is displayed or said can change behavior.
• The autonomy research is mainly correlational. It does not show that supporting autonomy is all it takes for a habit to last.
• These are mostly studies from Europe and North America. We have not found a study confirming them in Japan.
• How long a habit takes varies widely from person to person. Treat 66 days as a rough guide.

How the app uses this

• On rest days or after a break, the supporter speaks. It does not blame you. It says “Day one starts here”. This follows the findings that one missed day matters little (E1) and that a break felt as your own fault hurts more (E5). Logging rest keeps your streak connected. Because the research also found that easy recovery weakens the streak effect, this kind of rescue is kept light.
• The coach’s strictness is aimed at actions, not at you. Not “this is why you fail” but “log one thing today”. Feedback that turns attention to the self tends to backfire (E6).
• Tough wording only for those who choose it. You also decide how often you hear each voice. Ways of being supported that you chose for yourself tend to last (E7).

A small step today

• In settings, take another look at the balance between the supporter and the coach. Choosing what fits you right now is itself a way to keep going.
• If your streak has broken, log just one thing today. That is your new day one.

Sources

• [E5] Silverman & Barasch (2023) On or Off Track: How (Broken) Streaks Affect Consumer Decisions. Journal of Consumer Research.
• [E6] Kluger & DeNisi (1996) The effects of feedback interventions on performance: A historical review, a meta-analysis, and a preliminary feedback intervention theory. Psychological Bulletin.
• [E7] Ng et al. (2012) Self-Determination Theory Applied to Health Contexts: A Meta-Analysis. Perspectives on Psychological Science.
• [E1] Lally et al. (2010) How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology.