Justified indulgence: self-licensing effects on caloric consumption

Abstract

Objective: Research on self-licensing, i.e. employing justifications to give into temptation, largely consists of studies examining dichotomous food choices (healthy vs. unhealthy), while evidence for its effects on how much (unhealthy) food is consumed remains scarce. The present studies aimed to demonstrate self-licensing effects on caloric consumption in both lab (Study 1 & 2) and field setting (Study 3). Design: In all studies, female student samples were recruited. They either received a justification cue (license condition) or not (control condition), after which they could eat freely from unhealthy snacks (Study 1, N ¼ 85 and Study 2, N ¼ 95) or choose a snack for direct consumption at a take-out lunch place (Study 3, N ¼ 110). Main outcome measures: Caloric value of consumed snacks (Study 1 and 2) and chosen snack (Study 3). Results: In all studies, caloric consumption was higher in the license condition compared to the control condition: Participants ate more of the provided unhealthy snacks (Study 1 and 2) and chose a snack of higher caloric value (Study 3). Conclusions: The present research corroborates self-licensing as an important factor in the consumption of unhealthy foods by employing more ecologically valid outcomes.

Let go and give in! Self-licensing and the role of competing motivations.

“…In line with previous work (e.g., Prinsen, Evers, & De Ridder, 2019; Taylor, Webb, & Sheeran, 2014), our findings indicate that justifications contribute to increased food intake. Although the effect size associated with the mean difference in caloric intake reveals that participants who actively came up with justifications consumed more calories, the effect did not hold after conservative correction for multiple testing (assuming equal status for consumption and all motivational outcomes).…”

Are the Claims to Blame? A Qualitative Study to Understand the Effects of Nutrition and Health Claims on Perceptions and Consumption of Food

“…Finally, there was acknowledgement from participants that their consumption behaviour could or had been affected by claims. There was the potential for a licensing effect of claims, whereby individuals reasoned that they could eat (more) of a product, with claims that it is healthy [44]. However, this was typically discussed in the context of specific brands or types of food, such as breakfast bars, cereals, and crisps.…”

“I’ll work out tomorrow”: The Procrastination in Exercise Scale

“…Our results suggest that there is meaningful variability in self-reported exercise procrastination, and that exercise procrastination is associated with lower overall physical activity, even after controlling for intentions and general procrastination. Our research adds to a new but growing body of literature on reflective processes that contribute to self-regulatory failure (Kamphorst et al, 2018; Prinsen et al, 2019; Sirois et al, 2019; Valshtein et al, 2019), and additional research in this area may highlight novel avenues for increasing physical activity.…”