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Behaviour or Behaviours – Are both correct?

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Behaviour or Behaviours – Are both correct?

On 10 October 2026, Anne Denniston posted the following question to the PEGforum:

The Oxford Dictionary does not include behaviours in its definitions and examples but academic writers love it. Should I leave it (because it is consistent) or change it to behaviour? For example:

 

Stress-and-coping represents one of the key adaptation pathways through which life events influence subsequent attitudes, behaviours and decision-making.

Answer 1

Corné Janse van Rensburg said: Paul Brians says in Common errors in English usage (3rd ed 2013:35): ‘Behavior has always referred to patterns of action, including multiple actions, and did not have a separate plural form until social scientists created it. Unless you are writing in psychology, sociology, anthropology, or a related field, it is better to avoid the use of behaviors in your writing.’

Question 2

Another editor commented: Thank you as always, Corné, for your encyclopaedic wisdom! Would this include academic texts in Business Administration?

Answer 2

Corné replied: Tricky question, especially seeing that my knowledge is primarily based on the resources on my bookshelf.

In business administration, I would think that behaviour can be used both as an uncountable noun and as a countable noun depending on the context.

  • When you refer to general conduct, one would expect an uncountable noun: The HR department expects professional behaviour from staff members. Certain types of behaviour [my go-to option], eg, insubordination and insolence, are unacceptable in the workplace.
  • When you refer to specific actions – and those actions border on sociology – one could probably argue for the use of a countable noun: The HR department outlined certain core leadership behaviours for staff development.

My quick search has revealed that the countable noun is frequently used in corporate governance, human resources (or people management) and business management to describe organisational behaviour (eg risk-taking behaviours affect workplace decisions), leadership traits (eg benchmarking essential CEO behaviours) and corporate values (our new corporate behaviours are accountability and ownership [those are of course optative]).

Answer 3

Corné supplied the following information from Google AI: The word behaviour (or behavior) is primarily uncountable, but it can also be countable depending on the context.

Uncountable use (general)

Most of the time, behaviour is an uncountable (mass) noun used in a general sense to describe how a person, animal, or system acts overall.

 

  • Example: “His behaviour at the party was rude.”
  • Example: “Scientists study the behaviour of chimpanzees.”
  • Tip: Do not use an article like “a/an” or make it plural when speaking generally (say “bad behavior,” not “bad behaviors”).

Countable use (specific types or instances)

Behaviour can be used as a countable noun when you are referring to specific, distinct types, categories, or observable instances of actions—frequently in scientific, medical, or psychological fields.

 

  • Example: “The therapist recorded several aggressive behaviours during the session.”
  • Example: “Researchers are looking at different sleeping behaviours in birds.”

Answer 4

Lynne McNamara contributed: I work exclusively in academia and I always treat behaviour as a non-count noun.

Answer 5

Rosalie Kingwill countered: Behaviours is a definite term in social science, both USA and Anglophone. It has slightly different edge to it than behavior.

Answer 6

Yvonne Fontyn agreed, saying: I studied psychology and sociology and behaviours is a standard expression, with a different meaning to “behaviour”.

Answer 7

Helen Douglas added: The OED has examples of behaviours as a count noun going back to 1563!

 

Screenshot 2026-10-10 at 11.16.08.png

Solution

Anne decided to write a comment for the client saying:

You have used behaviours 23 times in your dissertation. I have not changed it because it is consistent. However, the Oxford, Cambridge and Merriam-Webster Dictionaries do not include this plural of behaviour in their definitions and examples, and Paul Brians says in Common errors in English usage (3rd ed 2013:35): ‘Behavior has always referred to patterns of action, including multiple actions, and did not have a separate plural form until social scientists created it. Unless you are writing in psychology, sociology, anthropology, or a related field, it is better to avoid the use of behaviors in your writing.’ A Professional Editors’ Guild FAQ noted that the term is also commonly used in Business Management

If you decide to change it, you should use Find and Replace (Ctrl+h) and make the changes one by one.

Thank you to the PEG members who participated in this discussion. It can be viewed by PEG members under the thread Behaviour or behaviours?  

Published on 12 October 2026

700 words