On Integrating the Components of Self-Control

As the science of self-control matures, the organization and integration of its key concepts becomes increasingly important. In response, we identified seven major components or "nodes" in current theories and research bearing on self-control: desire, higher order goal, desire-goal conflict, control motivation, control capacity, control effort, and enactment constraints. To unify these diverse and interdisciplinary areas of research, we formulated the interplay of these components in an integrative model of self-control. In this model, desire and an at least partly incompatible higher order goal generate desire-goal conflict, which activates control motivation. Control motivation and control capacity interactively determine potential control effort. The actual control effort invested is determined by several moderators, including desire strength, perceived skill, and competing goals. Actual control effort and desire strength compete to determine a prevailing force, which ultimately determines behavior, provided that enactment constraints do not impede it. The proposed theoretical framework is useful for highlighting several new directions for research on self-control and for classifying self-control failures and self-control interventions.

Oops I Did it Again: Examining Self-Licensing Effects in a Subsequent Self-Regulation Dilemma

BACKGROUND

Previous studies have mainly examined the immediate effects of self-licensing on self-regulation failure. The present vignette studies examined what happens when a second self-regulation dilemma is encountered.

METHODS

In Studies 1 (N = 52) and 2 (N = 166), participants read a vignette in which the protagonist chooses to buy a treat while being on a diet, which was preceded by a license (License condition) or not (Control condition). The self-reported likelihood of indulging again when a second dilemma was presented in the same situation served as the dependent variable. Study 2 included measures of self-regulatory ability (motivation and self-efficacy) and also presented the dilemma in a new situation.

RESULTS

Study 1 showed that participants were more likely to indulge again after an initial indulgent choice with a license. This was replicated in Study 2, which also showed that self-licensing had no effect on goal re-engagement in a new situation. A marginally significant positive effect of self-licensing was found for self-efficacy.

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained suggest that self-licensing negatively affects goal re-engagement in the same situation, but not in a new situation. Whether self-licensing maintains or increases feelings of self-efficacy needs to be validated in future studies.

Beliefs Are Not Behavior

Abstract. Compensatory health beliefs (CHBs), defined as belief that an unhealthy behavior can be compensated by engaging in another healthy behavior, are negatively predictive of health-behavior change intentions and behavior. However, CHBs have to be distinguished from compensatory health behavior (CBs), which is defined as compensatory behavior that an individual engages in. As it has not been investigated to date, the aim of this study was to systematically examine the distinction between CHBs and CBs in the context of alcohol consumption. The baseline sample consisted of 898 participants (mainly students, mean age = 23.57 years). For running exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses on CHBs and CBs, the split-half sample method was used. Moreover, the relationships of CHBs and CBs with health-related variables were assessed by regression analyses. The cross-sectional analyses supported the distinction between CHBs and CBs. In contrast to the CHBs, CBs were positively predictive of the intention to drink less alcohol and alcohol consumption. The consideration of CBs when investigating health behavior is highly relevant.

The Benefits of Self-Set Goals: Is Ego Depletion Really a Result of Self-Control Failure?

Research on ego depletion aims at explaining self-control failures in daily life. Both resource models and motivational accounts have been proposed for explanation. The aim of the present research was to test the different assumptions in two dual-task experiments where we operationalized ego depletion as a performance deviation from a self-set goal. In two experiments, we found evidence for this deviation contradicting motivational accounts of ego depletion: Participants experiencing ego depletion set themselves a stricter instead of a more lenient goal than controls, in that they chose to eat less cookies or wanted to perform better. Moreover, only participants without an initial self-control task could adhere to their self-set goal, whereas participants in the ego depletion condition in both experiments could not follow through with their more ambitious intentions. Taken together, our findings demonstrate the importance of goals in ego depletion research.

A meta-analytic review of moral licensing

Moral licensing refers to the effect that when people initially behave in a moral way, they are later more likely to display behaviors that are immoral, unethical, or otherwise problematic. We provide a state-of-the-art overview of moral licensing by conducting a meta-analysis of 91 studies (7,397 participants) that compare a licensing condition with a control condition. Based on this analysis, the magnitude of the moral licensing effect is estimated to be a Cohen's d of 0.31. We tested potential moderators and found that published studies tend to have larger moral licensing effects than unpublished studies. We found no empirical evidence for other moderators that were theorized to be of importance. The effect size estimate implies that studies require many more participants to draw solid conclusions about moral licensing and its possible moderators.

Thinking before sinning: reasoning processes in hedonic consumption

Whereas hedonic consumption is often labeled as impulsive, findings from self-licensing research suggest that people sometimes rely on reasons to justify hedonic consumption. Although the concept of self-licensing assumes the involvement of reasoning processes, this has not been demonstrated explicitly. Two studies investigated whether people indeed rely on reasons to allow themselves a guilty pleasure. Participants were exposed to a food temptation after which passive and active reasoning was assessed by asking participants to indicate the justifications that applied to them for indulging in that temptation (Study 1) or having them construe reasons to consume the hedonic product (Study 2). Regression analyses indicated that higher levels of temptation predicted the number of reasons employed and construed to justify consumption. By providing evidence for the involvement of reasoning processes, these findings support the assumption of self-licensing theory that temptations not only exert their influence by making us more impulsive, but can also facilitate gratification by triggering deliberative reasoning processes.

Always gamble on an empty stomach: hunger is associated with advantageous decision making

Three experimental studies examined the counterintuitive hypothesis that hunger improves strategic decision making, arguing that people in a hot state are better able to make favorable decisions involving uncertain outcomes. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that participants with more hunger or greater appetite made more advantageous choices in the Iowa Gambling Task compared to sated participants or participants with a smaller appetite. Study 3 revealed that hungry participants were better able to appreciate future big rewards in a delay discounting task; and that, in spite of their perception of increased rewarding value of both food and monetary objects, hungry participants were not more inclined to take risks to get the object of their desire. Together, these studies for the first time provide evidence that hot states improve decision making under uncertain conditions, challenging the conventional conception of the detrimental role of impulsivity in decision making.

It's my party and I eat if I want to. Reasons for unhealthy snacking

Investigating the reasons that people give for unhealthy snacking behavior is important for developing effective health interventions. Little research, however, has identified reasons that apply to a large audience and most studies do not integrate multiple factors, precluding any conclusions regarding their relative importance. The present study explored reasons for unhealthy snacking among a representative community sample. Participants (N = 1544) filled out the newly developed Reasons to Snack inventory assessing an elaborate range of motives at baseline and 1-month follow-up. Exploratory and replication factor analyses identified six categories: opportunity induced eating, coping with negative emotions, enjoying a special occasion, rewarding oneself, social pressure, and gaining energy. The highest mean scores were obtained for enjoying a special occasion and opportunity induced eating. Regression analyses with participant characteristics as independent variables and each category of reasons as dependent variables showed differences for age. For all reasons except to enjoy a special occasion, younger people reported a higher score. Women indicated a higher score than men on coping with negative emotions, enjoying a special occasion and gaining energy. People who diet to a stronger extent reported a higher score for snacking because of social pressure, to reward oneself and to cope with negative emotions, with the latter also being related to a higher BMI. Finally, a higher education was associated with enjoying a special occasion. Future health interventions could allocate more attention to diminishing unhealthy snacking with regard to the six identified categories, specifically focusing on enjoying a special occasion and opportunity induced eating.