How Habituation in Psychology Works and Affects Relationships

Becoming habituated to the smell of perfume

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At a Glance

A simple definition of habituation is getting so used to something in your environment (like a noise) that you stop noticing it.

Habituation is a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines habituation as "growing accustomed to a situation or stimulus," which diminishes its effectiveness.

For example, a new sound in your environment, such as a new ringtone for your phone, may initially draw your attention or even be distracting. As you become accustomed to this sound, you pay less attention to it, and your response diminishes. This process is an example of habituation.

In this article, we’ll look at some examples of habituation in your life, talk about why habituation happens, and go over some ways you can reduce habituation.

Habituation Examples

To understand how habituation works, let’s look at a few examples. You’ll find that the habituation phenomenon plays a role in many areas of your life, from learning to perception.

Learning

Habituation during learning is something that happens regularly in your everyday life, but you are probably unaware of it. In fact, habituation is a common form of learning. It allows people to tune out non-essential stimuli and focus on the things that really demand attention.

For example, imagine that you are studying with the television playing in the background. The TV might be distracting at first, but habituation allows you to tune out the noise and focus on what you are studying.

Perception

Imagine that you are in your backyard when you hear a loud banging noise from your neighbor's yard. The unusual sound immediately draws your attention, and you wonder what is going on.

Over the next few days, the banging noise keeps up at a regular pace. Eventually, you just tune out the noise. This is an example of habituation in perception.

It's not only the sound that prompts habituation—our other senses can also be affected.

Here’s another example: Every morning, you spritz on some perfume when you’re getting ready for work. Since you’re wearing it every day, it doesn’t take long for you to stop noticing the scent of your perfume, but others around you may notice the smell even though you’re no longer aware of it.

You can also easily become habituated to the quirks of your surroundings. Let’s say you move to a new apartment in the city that’s near the subway. At first, you might find the sound of the trains running at all hours of the day and night annoying, or even distressing. But after you’ve settled into your new place, the din of the subway noise just becomes part of your life, and you stop noticing it.

Pain Habituation

Can you habituate to pain? Research suggests that you can, but this instance of habituation might be more brain-based than true desensitization to the sensation of pain itself.

Emotions

Habituation can also happen emotionally, like when we are exposed to a constant barrage of bad news and negative social media posts.

Studies have shown that habituation to the suffering of others can make people less likely to help, particularly if we believe that people have become “used to” experiencing repeated disasters.

Use in Psychotherapy

Some psychotherapy approaches rely on habituation. For example, in the treatment of phobias, habituating people to the source of their fear is one way to help them overcome what they’re afraid of.

Exposure therapy uses progressive exposure to what people are afraid of to help them overcome a phobia. Here’s an example of how habituation in this case could help someone who is afraid of the dark:

  • First, the person may simply imagine being in a dark room.
  • Once they've become habituated to this imagined experience, they will expose themselves to increasingly closer approximations to the real source of their anxiety—such as by standing just inside the door of a dark room—until they finally confront the fear itself by standing fully inside a dark room.
  • Eventually, the person becomes habituated to the stimulus (complete darkness) and they no longer experience the fear response to it.

Factors Impacting Habituation

Habituation does not always occur in the same way. Several factors can influence how quickly you become habituated to a stimulus. Some of the factors that affect habituation include:

  • Change: Altering the intensity or duration of the stimulation can lead to a recurrence of the original response. So, if that banging noise from your neighbor’s yard grew louder over time or changed in rhythm, you'd be more likely to start to notice it again.
  • Duration: If a stimulus is not presented for a long enough time before a sudden reintroduction, the response will again reappear at full strength. If that noisy neighbor's loud banging were to stop and start, you’d be less likely to become habituated to it. 
  • Frequency: The more frequently a stimulus is presented, the faster habituation will occur. If you wear that same perfume every day, you're more likely to stop noticing it earlier than if you only wore it on special occasions.
  • Intensity: Very intense stimuli tend to lead to slower habituation. Sometimes, habituation will never occur. In some cases, such as deafening noises like a car alarm or a siren, that makes sense. A car alarm wouldn't be very effective as an alert if people stopped noticing it after a few minutes.

Theories of Habituation

Habituation is an example of non-associative learning. In this type, there's no reward or punishment associated with the stimulus. For example, you're not experiencing pain or pleasure because of your neighbor's banging noises.

There are two well-known psychological theories about why we experience habituation:

  • Comparator (or neuronal-model) theory: Our brains create models of expected stimuli. When we're exposed to a stimulus repeatedly, it gets compared to the model made by our brains. Habituation occurs if the stimulus matches the brain's model.
  • Dual-factor o(r dual-process) theory: When repeatedly being exposed to a stimulus causes decreased sensory sensitivity and arousal, habituation will occur.

Habituation in Relationships

Habituation can have real-world consequences, including in our social relationships. For example, "relationship complacency" is a form of habituation. Here are a few reasons why this can happen:

  • We get used to the good and the bad: As we grow to know people better, we stop noticing every little thing and become increasingly habituated to both their good and not-so-good qualities.
  • We overlook some things and get irritated by others: You might grow accustomed to a partner’s habits that you found irritating at first, or even become increasingly annoyed by things that you overlooked initially.
  • Novelty increases attention in the beginning: In the beginning stages of any relationship, people tend to respond more readily to each other. Every sensation is thrilling because it is new.
  • Newness eventually wears off: The exciting newness of a relationship does not last forever. Eventually, habituation sets in, and people stop noticing every little thing about their partners.

Habituation in a relationship is not necessarily a bad thing. The passion that marks the start of a relationship often gives way to something deeper and more lasting—a more meaningful love that is marked by friendshipsupport, and respect, in addition to passion.

Is Habituation Bad for Relationships?

Habituation in relationships can be problematic when it leads to taking the other person for granted—something that can easily happen in a long-term relationship. Over time, you might start to feel like your partner does not appreciate how you contribute to the relationship. Or maybe it is your partner who feels that they are being overlooked by you.

How to Overcome Habituation in Relationships

Here are some things you can do to bring some of the initial sparks back into your relationship and reverse habituation:

  • Focus on the positive: Take the time to think about the things you love about your partner. What are the qualities you admire most about this person? What things attracted you the most when you first met?
  • Practice gratitude: As you spend more and more time around your partner, it can be all too easy to focus on the things about them that you find irritating. If you focus only on these qualities, it can be extremely difficult to remain satisfied and connected. Instead, practice gratitude for the blessings they bring to your life.
  • Recall the feelings from the start of your relationship: Think about the things that you first noticed and loved about your partner. Consider the things you enjoy doing together as a couple. Taking the time to notice those qualities and reintroduce those activities is a good way to reconnect.
  • Try something new: Routines and habits can be helpful, but they can also feel stifling. Look for ways to change things up and add a zing of novelty back to your relationship. Try new activities as a couple and explore things together. It can be an interesting way of building a strong connection, as well as a means to see your partner in a new light.

Summary

Habituation allows us to tune out certain things in our environment so we can focus on what's more important at the moment. It's a normal part of our experience of the world. Habituation helps us function in environments where we are being inundated with sensory experiences and information.

At the same time, habituation can be problematic in our relationships if it leads us to take others for granted. Finding ways to reverse habituation with people we care about can go a long way to creating relationships that bring us love and joy.

12 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."