Self-control Situations Research Articles

Individual differences in the discounting of combination outcomes in which immediate gains are followed by delayed losses.

The vast majority of studies on discounting have focused on simple delayed outcomes, but most everyday decisions are more complicated. The present experiment focused on one such scenario, an iconic self-control situation in which immediate gains are followed by delayed losses. The same participants were studied in all conditions to permit examination of individual differences in choice behavior using intercorrelations and factor analysis. Consistent with previous research, the hyperboloid model accurately described the form of the discounting function and discounting was not affected by the amount of the delayed loss when it was presented alone. However, replicating other studies, smaller delayed losses were discounted more steeply than larger ones when presented in combination with immediate gains. Exploratory factor analysis revealed two factors, one loading primarily on loss-only conditions and the other loading primarily on conditions involving outcomes that combined gains and losses. These results imply that there are individual differences in how one combines gains and losses and that this characteristic of individual decision making might be an important predictor of decisions in the many everyday choice situations that involve complex outcomes.

Because you had a bad day: the role of negative affect and justification in self-control failure

ABSTRACT Justification thinking (using excuses to “allow” giving into temptation) has been identified as a potential link between negative affect and self-control failure. We hypothesised that negative affect would prompt greater justification thinking, specifically deservingness thinking (i.e. “I deserve a treat”), and tested this for both inhibitory (temptation is to approach reward; self-control is to inhibit) and initiatory (temptation is to refrain from action, self-control is to initiate action) hypothetical self-control dilemmas. We found that only for inhibitory self-control (Study 1; N = 105) but not initiatory (Study 2; N = 116), negative affect resulted in greater deservingness thinking compared to neutral affect. We also hypothesised that negative mood coupled with justification would prompt greater likelihood of imagined self-control failure. We found that for inhibitory self-control (Study 3; N = 569), participants in negative affect (vs. neutral) and justification (vs. no justification) conditions were independently more likely to report they would fail at self-control. For initiatory self-control (Study 4; N = 321), we found an effect of negative affect on hypothetical self-control failure but no effect of justification. Overall, these studies confirm the role of negative affect in self-control processes and highlight differences between inhibitory and initiatory self-control situations.

Real-life self-control conflicts in anorexia nervosa: An ecological momentary assessment investigation.

Individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) are often thought to show heightened self-control and increased ability to inhibit desires. In addition to inhibitory self-control, antecedent-focused strategies (e.g., cognitive reconstrual-the re-evaluation of tempting situations) might contribute to disorder maintenance and enable disorder-typical, maladaptive behaviors. Over a period of 14days, 40 acutely underweight young female patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) and 40 healthy control (HC) participants reported their affect and behavior in self-control situations via ecological momentary assessment during inpatient treatment (AN) and everyday life (HC). Data were analyzed via hierarchical analyses (linear and logistic modeling). Conflict strength had a significantly lower impact on self-control success in AN compared to HC. While AN and HC did not generally differ in the number or strength of self-control conflicts or in the percentage of self-control success, AN reported self-controlled behavior to be less dependent on conflict strength. While patients with AN were not generally more successful at self-control, they appeared to resolve self-control conflicts more effectively. These findings suggest that the magnitude of self-control conflicts has comparatively little impact on individuals with AN, possibly due to the use of antecedent-focused strategies. If confirmed, cognitive-behavioral therapy might focus on and help patients to exploit these alternative self-control strategies in the battle against their illness.

Attract the best: The attraction effect as an effective strategy to enhance healthy choices.

Every day, people make many food decisions without thinking, repeatedly falling for the unhealthy option instead of the healthy option. While making these mindless decisions, people often rely on heuristics. In this paper, we demonstrate that these heuristics can be exploited to nudge consumers towards healthy alternatives. Specifically, we explore how the attraction effect (i.e., adding a decoy to a choice set) can nudge people to choose a healthy snack. The results of our choice experiment indicate that adding a decoy (i.e., a less attractive food alternative) to a self-control situation (i.e., choosing between a healthy and an unhealthy food alternative) can help people maintain self-control and choose the healthy option. This mixed choice set thus nudges people towards the healthy option. Moreover, our results show differential effects of the attraction effect depending on the (un)healthiness of the products in the choice set. Specifically, the attraction effect is prominent when the choice set consists of unhealthy products only (i.e., the unhealthy choice set), but not in the choice set that consists of only healthy products (i.e., healthy choice set). Importantly, our results indicate when the attraction effect can exploit consumers' heuristics to help them make better, healthier food choices.

Self-control and interoception: Linking the neural substrates of craving regulation and the prediction of aversive interoceptive states induced by inspiratory breathing restriction

Following the interoceptive inference framework, we set out to replicate our previously reported association of self-control and interoceptive prediction and strived to investigate the neural underpinnings subserving the relationship between self-control and aversive interoceptive predictive models. To this end, we used fMRI and a within-subject design including an inspiratory breathing-load task to examine the prediction of aversive interoceptive perturbation and a craving-regulation for palatable foods task to measure self-control. In this current study, we could successfully replicate previous effects with an independent sample (n ​= ​39) and observed that individuals who ‘over-estimated’ their upcoming interoceptive state with respect to experienced dyspnea (i.e., anticipated versus experienced) were more effective in the down-regulation of craving using negative future-thinking strategies. These individuals, again, obtained higher scores on a measure of trait self-control, i.e. self-regulation to achieve long-term goals. On a neural level, we found evidence that the anterior insula (AI) and the presupplementary motor area (preSMA), which were recruited in both tasks, partly accounted for these effects. Specifically, levels of AI activation during the anticipation of the aversive interoceptive state (breathing restriction) were associated with self-controlled behavior in the craving task, whereas levels of interoceptive prediction during the breathing task were conversely associated with activation in preSMA during the down-regulation of craving, whose anticipatory activity was correlated with self-control success. Moreover, during the self-control task, levels of interoceptive prediction were associated with connectivity in a spatially distributed network including among other areas the insula and regions of cognitive control, while during the interoceptive prediction task, levels of self-control were associated with connectivity in a spatially distributed network including among other regions the insula and preSMA. In sum, these findings consolidate the notion that self-control is directly linked to interoceptive inference and highlight the contribution of AI and preSMA as candidate regions underlying this relationship possibly creating processing advantages in self-control situations referring to the prediction of future internal states.

Restrained eating predicts effortful self-control as indicated by heart rate variability during food exposure

When confronted with food, restrained eaters have to inhibit the pursuit of the short-term goal of enjoying their food for the sake of the long-term goal of controlling their weight. Thus, restrained eating creates a self-control situation. In the present study we investigated the initiation of effortful self-control by food cues in accordance with the level of restrained eating. We expected that a preceding act of self-control would moderate the association between restrained eating and effortful self-control initiated by food cues. Participants (N=111) were randomly assigned to a task requiring self-control or a task not requiring self-control. Subsequently, participants were exposed to palatable food, and effortful self-control was measured via heart rate variability (HRV). Restrained eating was associated with enhanced HRV during food exposure after exercising self-control but not after not exercising self-control. The results indicate that maintaining dieting goals results in food cues initiating effortful self-control after a preceding act of self-control. We suggest considering the effect of acts of self-control when modeling the initial steps on the path from food cues to unsuccessful restrained eating.

Sensitivity to pre- and post-reinforcer delays in self-control choice

Rats were exposed to a concurrent-chains schedule in which reinforcer amounts, pre-reinforcer and post-reinforcer delays were varied between alternatives. Two independent variable-interval 60-s schedules were in effect during the initial links. Pre- and post-reinforcer delays were defined by fixed-time schedules. In one condition, rats chose between a larger reinforcer delayed by 0, 40, 80, or 120-s and an immediate smaller reinforcer. In the other condition, rats chose between an immediate larger reinforcer terminated with 0, 40, 80, or 120-s post-reinforcer delays and an immediate smaller reinforcer terminated with no post-reinforcer delay. In both conditions, choice was predicted from overall reinforcement density (i.e. reinforcer amount divided by total trial time). The results indicate that the preference for the larger reinforcer systematically decreased as both pre- and post-reinforcer delays increased. Although the effect of pre-reinforcer delay was greater than that of post-reinforcer delay, post-reinforcer delay itself influenced rats' choices in the present self-control situation. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated the limitation of local reinforcement density model of the matching law and all time components that constitute a choice alternative need to be weighted and incorporated into the general model of choice behavior.

Performance Measurement System Controllability Framing Effects on Subordinate-Self Control Systems

Accounting literature recognizes that relatively autonomous self-control by subordinates can potentially create organizational value in highly uncertain situations, such as those involving creativity, entrepreneurship, learning, and innovation. The accounting literature, however, has a 50 year history of conflicting assumptions, disagreement, or about the relevance, reliability, and roles associated with the design of performance measures and performance measurement systems for influencing subordinate self-control. This paper begins to address this debate using the following research strategy. First, interdisciplinary theories are used to develop theory labeled implicit accounting architecture for how performance measures and performance measurement systems function in a highly uncertain emergent learning situation in which subordinates are relied on to self-control. Second, the paper uses the implicit accounting architecture and three rival social psychology theories to develop competing hypotheses about whether and how performance measurement system causal framing influences subordinates’ intrinsic payoffs. Finally, a behavioral economic method and a field experiment are used to test the competing hypotheses in a subordinate self-control situation designed to simulate bottom-up emergent learning. The results provide strong support for one competing social psychology theory that posits a reliable or performance-contingent relationship between performance measurement system causal framing and subordinates' intrinsic payoffs. The implications for practice and theory are discussed.

Effects of pre-trial response requirements on self-control choices by rats and pigeons.

Parallel experiments with rats and pigeons examined whether the size of a pre-trial ratio requirement would affect choices in a self-control situation. In different conditions, either 1 response or 40 responses were required before each trial. In the first half of each experiment, an adjusting-ratio schedule was used, in which subjects could choose a fixed-ratio schedule leading to a small reinforcer, or an adjusting-ratio schedule leading to a larger reinforcer. The size of the adjusting ratio requirement was increased and decreased over trials based on the subject's responses, in order to estimate an indifference point-a ratio at which the two alternatives were chosen about equally often. The second half of each experiment used an adjusting-delay procedure-fixed and adjusting delays to the small and large reinforcers were used instead of ratio requirements. In some conditions, particularly with the reinforcer delays, the rats had consistently longer adjusting delays with the larger pre-trial ratios, reflecting a greater tendency to choose the larger, delayed reinforcer when more responding was required to reach the choice point. No consistent effects of the pre-trial ratio were found for the pigeons in any of the conditions. These results may indicate that rats are more sensitive to the long-term reinforcement rates of the two alternatives, or they may result from a shallower temporal discounting rate for rats than for pigeons, a difference that has been observed in previous studies.

Impulse and Self-Control From a Dual-Systems Perspective.

Though human beings embody a unique ability for planned behavior, they also often act impulsively. This insight may be important for the study of self-control situations in which people are torn between their long-term goals to restrain behavior and their immediate impulses that promise hedonic fulfillment. In the present article, we outline a dual-systems perspective of impulse and self-control and suggest a framework for the prediction of self-control outcomes. This framework combines three elements that, considered jointly, may enable a more precise prediction of self-control outcomes than they do when studied in isolation: impulsive precursors of behavior, reflective precursors, and situational or dispositional boundary conditions. The theoretical and practical utility of such an approach is demonstrated by drawing on recent evidence from several domains of self-control such as eating, drinking, and sexual behavior.

Why do animals make better choices in patch-leaving problems?

This study compares two procedures for the study of choices that differ in time and amount, namely the self-control and patch procedures. The self-control procedure offers animals a binary mutually exclusive choice between a smaller-sooner and larger-later option. This procedure dominates the choice literature. It seems to address the idea of choice in a general, but relatively abstract way. Animals in the self-control situation frequently prefer the smaller-sooner option even when the larger-later option yields a higher long-term intake rate. In contrast, the patch procedure poses an economically similar question, but simulates the naturally occurring problem of patch exploitation. In the patch procedure, animals choose between leaving and staying. Emerging evidence suggests that animals perform better and achieve higher long-term intake rates in the patch situation. This observation raises the question of how a single set of choice mechanisms could produce these different outcomes. The experiment presented here tests two hypotheses about the relationship between the patch and self-control situations. First, it asks whether the short-term rate rule can predict choice behavior in both situations. Second, it tests the second-delivery hypothesis which holds that the patch situation favors choosing the larger more delayed option (staying) because this option ultimately leads to two food deliveries. The results of this experiment convincingly reject both of these hypotheses. Indeed, our results suggest that none of the simple rules based on time and amount can explain the observed differences between the patch and self-control situations. This result challenges the generality of existing models of choice.

The influence of prior choices on current choice.

Three pigeons chose between random-interval (RI) and tandem, continuous-reinforcement, fixed-interval (crf-FI) reinforcement schedules by pecking either of two keys. As long as a pigeon pecked on the RI key, both keys remained available. If a pigeon pecked on the crf-FI key, then the RI key became unavailable and the crf-FI timer began to time out. With this procedure, once the RI key was initially pecked, the prospective value of both alternatives remained constant regardless of time spent pecking on the RI key without reinforcement (RI waiting time). Despite this constancy, the rate at which pigeons switched from the RI to the crf-FI decreased sharply as RI waiting time increased. That is, prior choices influenced current choice-an exercise effect. It is argued that such influence (independent of reinforcement contingencies) may serve as a sunk-cost commitment device in self-control situations. In a second experiment, extinction was programmed if RI waiting time exceeded a certain value. Rate of switching to the crf-FI first decreased and then increased as the extinction point approached, showing sensitivity to both prior choices and reinforcement contingencies. In a third experiment, crf-FI availability was limited to a brief window during the RI waiting time. When constrained in this way, switching occurred at a high rate regardless of when, during the RI waiting time, the crf-FI became available.

Effects of temporal clumping and payoff accumulation on impulsiveness and cooperation

Animals show impulsiveness when they prefer a smaller more immediate option, even though a larger more delayed option produces a higher intake rate. This impulsive behavior has implications for several behavioral problems including social cooperation. This paper presents two experiments using captive blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) that consider the effects of payoff accumulation and temporal clumping on impulsiveness and cooperation. Payoff accumulation refers to a situation where the benefits gained from each choice trial accumulate from one trial to the next, and only become available to the animal after it has completed a fixed number of trials. We hypothesized that this would reduce impulsiveness because it removes the advantage of quickly realizing food gains. Clumping refers to situation in which the animal experiences several choice trials in quick succession followed by a long pause before the next clump. We hypothesized that if payoffs accumulated over a clump of trials this would enhance the effect of accumulation. We tested the effects of accumulation and clumping on impulsiveness in a self-control situation. We found a significant interaction between clumping and accumulation. Payoff accumulation reduced impulsiveness, but only when trials were clumped. Post hoc analyses suggest that clumping alone increases impulsiveness. A second experiment applied these results to cooperation. This experiment reveals an interaction between payoff accumulation and trial's position within the clump. Jays were more likely to cooperate on the first trial of a clump, but the likelihood of cooperation dropped after the first trial. However, this drop was larger when payoffs did not accumulate. This observation suggests that the difference between accumulated and un-accumulated treatments that we reported previously may be largely due to differences in how animals behave in the first trial of a clump.

The adaptive value of preference for immediacy: when shortsighted rules have farsighted consequences

Results from the operant laboratory suggest that short-term benefits guide animal feeding decisions. These results appear to contradict evolutionarily-motivated models of foraging that emphasize long-term benefits. Because of this contradiction, some behavioral ecologists argue that natural selection must favor short-term benefits in some unknown way. This study addresses the contradiction by testing the feeding preferences of captive blue jays in two economically equivalent situations. The first situation follows the operant literature’s ‘‘self-control’’ paradigm; jays make a binary choice between small-immediate and large-delayed options. The second situation is modeled on patch-use problems; the jays make a leave-stay decision in which ‘‘leaving’’ leads to small amount in a short time, and ‘‘staying’’ leads to larger amount in a longer time. In the self-control situations, the observed outcome agrees with short-term rate maximizing, as other investigators have reported. In the patch situation, the results agree more closely with long-term rate maximizing. The text explains how a rule of preference based on short-term rate comparisons can account for both situations. It is argued that natural selection may have favored short-term rules because they have long-term consequences in many natural foraging situations. Key words: blue jay, foraging, prey, self-control. [Behav Ecol 12:330–339 (2001)]

Probability of reciprocation in repeated prisoner's dilemma games

Both social cooperation and self-control require reciprocation. In social cooperation situations a single person's cooperative act, if not reciprocated by others, would be unreinforced both immediately and in the long term. Similarly, a single act of self-control (refusing a single cigarette, for example), if not followed up by other such acts, would also be unreinforced immediately and in the long term. The present experiments varied probability of reciprocation in a prisoner's dilemma-like game that could resemble a social cooperation or a self-control situation. Participants earned points by playing against a computer. The computer offered the participant a choice between 5 or 6 points (‘cooperation’ by the computer) or between 1 or 2 points (‘defection’ by the computer). The participant's choice of the lesser alternative (‘cooperation’) or the greater alternative (‘defection’) on the current trial led, respectively, to cooperation or defection by the computer on the next trial with a probability (probability of reciprocation, PR) which could vary. When PR was greater than 63%, consistent cooperation maximized the participant's earnings. When PR was less than 63%, defection maximized earnings. Three conditions were studied: PR signaled by spinners; PR unsignaled; PR unsignaled with participants believing that they were playing with another person, not the computer. With PR = 100% (‘tit-for-tat’) and PR = 50%, the modal participant maximized earnings under all three conditions. With PR = 75%, participants maximized earnings only when PR was signaled. These results indicate that differences between people's tendency to cooperate with other people (social cooperation) and their tendency to cooperate with their own future interests (self-control) may lie in differences in subjective PR. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Guilty pleasures and grim necessities: affective attitudes in dilemmas of self-control.

Do self-control situations pit controlled reason against impulsive emotion, or do some emotions support the controlled choice? A pilot study of self-control attitudes found ambivalence between hedonic affect associated with short-term perspectives and self-conscious affect associated with the long term. In Study 1, negative self-conscious affect accompanied higher self-control among delayed-cost dilemmas ("guilty pleasures") but not delayed-benefit dilemmas ("grim necessities"). Study 2 showed that hedonic affect was more accessible than was self-conscious affect, but this difference was less among high self-control dilemmas. In Study 3, unobtrusively primed self-conscious emotion words caused dieters to eat less if the emotions were negative, more if positive. Hedonic positive and negative emotion words had the opposite effect. Self-conscious emotional associations, then, can support self-control if brought to mind before the chance to act.

Self-Control and Altruism: Delay of Gratification for Another

KANFER, FREDERICK, H.; STIFTER, ELFRIEDE; and MORRIS, STEVEN J. Self-Control and Altruism: Delay of Gratification for Another. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1981, 52, 674-682. 2 studies investigated the effects of altruistic outcomes on self-control in a modified delay-of-gratification paradigm. In study 1, children were assigned to 1 of 6 groups, which differed only in the beneficiary of the child's working at a tedious task. It was found that the subject's decision to work or not to work (decisional self-control) was significantly affected by the closeness of the relationship between the subject and the beneficiary. In study 2, children were placed in a protracted self-control situation, and their duration of working at a tedious task was assessed. It was found that children tended to engage in the task longest when working for themselves and shortest when working for an unidentified child. The findings are discussed in terms of their methodological implications for altruism research and also their implications for Kanfer's model of altruism.

Developing self-control in preschool children through correspondence training

Twelve inner-city preschool children experienced one of two training procedures designed to establish correspondence between their verbalizations about behavioral self-control and execution of a self-control task. The children played the Scarecrow Game which involved the prolonged extension of their arms at their sides. The game is an analog of a “tolerance” type self-control situation. Group 1 experienced a saying (intention) then doing sequence. Group 2 was trained via a doing then saying (reporting) sequence. The experiment was conducted in three phases over 22 days. Both groups showed an increase over baseline in verbalization and play with the game, although reinforcement of verbalization alone did not produce an increase in self-control activity. A significant increase in correspondence did occur in both groups when a snack was delivered contingent upon the matching of verbal report to actual performance. In addition, the level of correspondence exhibited by the say-do group exceeded that of the do-say group.

SELF‐REINFORCEMENT1

Self-reinforcement in operant situations generally refers to those arrangements in which the subject delivers to himself a consequence, contingent on his behavior. However, it is noted that the definition of all other types of reinforcement make its delivery contingent on the subject's behavior. What is actually at issue is the agent who defines whether or not the response required for reinforcement has been met. In self-reinforcement, the subject himself defines this. In the laboratory, this requirement is machine-defined; in school examinations, it is teacher-defined; and in many clinical self-control situations, it is also independently defined. A reinforcement contingency presupposes such independence, absent in self-reinforcement. Implications for research and practice are discussed and alternative formulations are offered.

Interactive Effects of Uncertainty and Self-Control on the Acceptance of Responsibility for, and Satisfaction with, Performance

This study investigates the interactive effects of environmental uncertainty and self-control on the acceptance of responsibility for, and the satisfaction with, performance. A sample of graduate management students completed a questionnaire containing Rotter's locus of control scale and descriptions of four administrative situations, differing in environmental uncertainty and in the amount of self-control possible. Each case was followed by questions about the amount of responsibility they would accept if put in charge, and their satisfaction if they performed above or below average. An analysis of variance was then performed on these data. It was found that the situational factors identified significant differences and interactions but that the locus of control factor did not. Specifically, under both the low and high self-control situations, increasing the amount of environmental uncertainty reduced the amount of responsibility accepted. However, under the low self-control environment there was a significantly greater reduction both in the responsibility accepted and also expected of a subordinate. Similarly, under both levels of self-control, increasing environmental uncertainty lessened satisfaction with good performance and also lessened dissatisfaction with poor performance. However, again there was a significantly greater change under conditions of low self-control than for high self-control. Implications of the findings for the design of administrative systems are discussed.