Behaviour Change
Behaviour change can involve skills, opportunities, motivation, habits and identity. Consider a specific next action and what might help or hinder it.
More than intention
The COM-B model describes capability, opportunity and motivation as interacting conditions for behaviour. It is one established way of examining a proposed action. AURIS also explores identity-related meaning, but its integrated approach should not be treated as necessary or sufficient for lasting change.
Make the next action specific
Knowing what you want to change and being able to do it are different things. Consider what the action requires, what makes it easier or harder in your setting, and whether it matters enough to you to try. A small action is not evidence that the whole difficulty has been solved.
Fictional example: rather than ‘get my routine back’, someone chooses ‘put my walking shoes by the door and try a ten-minute walk after breakfast tomorrow’. If it does not happen, they can adjust the timing, the action or the support they need. Missing an attempt does not establish a personal failure.
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Related research papers
- The behaviour change wheel: A new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventionsMichie, S., van Stralen, M. M. and West, R. (2011). Implementation Science, 6, 42.
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Further reading from the Knowledge Hub on the same themes.
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Explore regulation as noticing and responding to emotions and attention. This educational guide offers everyday reflection, without promising calm or providing clinical treatment.
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Self-concept is how you understand and describe yourself. Explore how roles, values and beliefs can change without treating a job title as a complete account of a person.
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- White Papers · 1 min readIdentity After the Uniform: What the Evidence Tells Me
A research commentary examining the evidence, its limitations and the next questions for the Identity After the Uniform programme.
- White Papers · 1 min readThe Science of Sustainable Human Change
A conceptual paper presenting an integrated Identity Performance Psychology model. A proposed model is not proof that an intervention is effective.
Identity After the Uniform
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Published records from the research programme behind this article.
- White Papers · 2 min readWhite Paper 0, From Transition to Service Provider Identity Adaptation
A conceptual position paper reframing the Identity After the Uniform research programme: transition is the trigger, but the phenomenon under study is identity adaptation after a trained, high-pressure service role.
- White Papers · 1 min readIdentity After the Uniform: What the Evidence Tells Me
A research commentary examining the evidence, its limitations and the next questions for the Identity After the Uniform programme.
- Foundations · 4 min readThe AURIS Connection Hub
A verified, worldwide directory of support organisations, events and opportunities, built into the AURIS Identity System because the research kept showing the same problem: the right support usually exists, it is just hard to find.
- Research · 6 min readState of the Evidence: What We Know, What We Don't, and Why This Research Is Needed
An audit of the AURIS Master Evidence Repository, conducted 30 August 2026, setting out plainly which evidence is solid, which is located but not yet fully verified, which has been downgraded, and which gaps remain open.
Gemma Gardner
Founder and Research Lead, AURIS Institute
Gemma Gardner leads the AURIS research programme on identity and occupational transition. Her work builds the evidence base behind the AURIS Identity System and the Identity System, drawing on interviews with service leavers, families and the organisations that support them.
- Lead author, Identity Performance Psychology white paper series
- Principal investigator, AURIS identity adaptation interview programme
- Author of AURIS submissions on identity in occupational transition
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Everything published here comes from the AURIS research programme. The AURIS Identity System, the separate membership platform at aurisidentity.com, is where the same framework is taught as guided courses and daily practice.
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