Title |
Being active and impulsive: The role of goals for action and inaction in self-control
|
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Published in |
Motivation and Emotion, November 2011
|
DOI | 10.1007/s11031-011-9263-4 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Justin Hepler, Dolores Albarracin, Kathleen C. McCulloch, Kenji Noguchi |
Abstract |
Although self-control often requires behavioral inaction (i.e., not eating a piece of cake), the process of inhibiting impulsive behavior is commonly characterized as cognitively active (i.e., actively exerting self-control). Two experiments examined whether motivation for action or inaction facilitates self-control behavior in the presence of tempting stimuli. Experiment 1 used a delay discounting task to assess the ability to delay gratification with respect to money. Experiment 2 used a Go/No-Go task to assess the ability to inhibit a dominant but incorrect motor response to the words "condom" and "sex". The results demonstrate that goals for inaction promote self-control, whereas goals for action promote impulsive behavior. These findings are discussed in light of recent evidence suggesting that goals for action and inaction modulate physiological resources that promote behavioral execution. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 1 | 50% |
Unknown | 1 | 50% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 2 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 2 | 2% |
United States | 2 | 2% |
China | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 123 | 96% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 28 | 22% |
Student > Master | 25 | 20% |
Researcher | 24 | 19% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 10 | 8% |
Other | 6 | 5% |
Other | 21 | 16% |
Unknown | 14 | 11% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 68 | 53% |
Social Sciences | 14 | 11% |
Decision Sciences | 5 | 4% |
Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 4 | 3% |
Arts and Humanities | 4 | 3% |
Other | 16 | 13% |
Unknown | 17 | 13% |