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

Abstract

Self-regulation failure can be the result of self-licensing, the act of using justifications to give in to immediate temptations. The present research aimed to investigate how justifications influence the underlying motivations for temptations and their competing long-term goals by assessing shifts in motivational strengths. An online Study 1 (N ϭ 123) and a laboratory Study 2 (N ϭ 107) were conducted among individuals who wanted to lose or maintain weight and, accordingly, experienced food temptations as conflicting. Participants either generated reasons to eat (justification condition) or free thoughts (control condition) about visualized unhealthy or healthy food products (Study 1) or for actual unhealthy food products preceding a taste test (Study 2). Main outcomes were temptation and goal motivation, their relative difference, and the subsequent caloric intake (Study 2). Study 1 did not provide support for the assumption that justifications further strengthen temptation motivation. Preliminary findings suggested that justifications devaluated long-term goals. In Study 2, justifications seemed to increase caloric intake. However, no evidence was found for an underlying role of competing motivations. The findings are discussed in light of the speculation that if justifications weaken people's long-term goal motivation, these goals can be more easily overruled by people's motivation to indulge and, therefore, lead to self-regulation failure.