Walking the Line between Goals and Temptations: Asymmetric Effects of Counteractive Control

Abstract

A chapter to appear in "self control in brain mind and society", R. R., Hassin, Y. Trope, & K.Ochsner (Eds.), Oxford University Press. 2People rarely desire one thing at a time. Rather, the process of goal pursuit involves constantly prioritizing the many goals that a person wishes to pursue and resolving goal conflicts (e.g., navigating career, leisure, and family activities). In this chapter we focus on a specific type of goal conflict: the self-control dilemma. People face a self-control dilemma whenever the attainment of a high-order goal would come at the expense of a low-order, yet alluring temptation (Ainslie, 1992;Baumeister, Heatherton, & Tice, 1994;Loewenstein, 1996;Metcalfe & Mischel, 1999;Rachlin, 2000;Thaler & Shefrin, 1981). For example, a dieter's desire to finish a meal with a sweet dessert may not coincide with his desire to maintain a low-fat diet; a saver's wish to get the new gadget in stores may interfere with her saving plans; and a student's urge to procrastinate may not allow him to complete his assignments on time. Whenever these individuals contemplate the conflicting motives (i.e., goal vs. temptation), they experience a selfcontrol dilemma. In response to self-control dilemmas, people exercise self control to facilitate the attainment of the more important goal (Ainslie, 2001;Baumeister & Vohs, 2004;Gollwitzer & Moskowitz, 1996;Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989;Rachlin, 2000).Goals and temptations are both motivational states but they have different status. Highorder motives (or "goals") serve central interests that are more important in the long-run, and low-order motives (or "temptations") serve peripheral interests that are beneficial in the shortterm. In this view, self-control is a tool for pursuing goals that are given high priority in a person's subjective goal hierarchy. Thus, the processes of goal setting (determining the goal hierarchy) do not require self control. In addition, self control is rarely a goal in itself, in the sense that people do not have a goal to exercise self control. Instead, self control is an 3 instrumental response that improves goal striving when high-order goals are in conflict with loworder temptations.Self-control problems are common and have a long history in human conduct and thought. Self-control problems have been documented and studied in philosophy, religion, and more recently in the social sciences, by researchers in economics (e.g., Becker, 1960;O'Donoghue & Rabin, 2000;Thaler & Shefrin, 1981), political science (e.g., Elster, 1977;Schelling, 1984), and psychology (e.g., Ainslie, 2001;Baumeister & Vohs, 2004;Rachlin, 2000). In light of this rich history and the various perspectives presented in this volume, the purpose of the current chapter is to shed light on the processes of self control from a structural point of view, proposed by counteractive control theory (Fishbach & Trope, 2005; Fishbach & Trope, 2007;Trope & Fishbach, 2000.Counteractive control theory addresses the process by which people proactively counteract the threat that tem...

The unhealthy road not taken: Licensing indulgence by exaggerating counterfactual sins

“…These findings also advance research on how construal processes facilitate self-control (see Fishbach & Converse, 2010). People will evaluate a particular temptation as more harmful when motivated to resist it (Fishbach, Zhang, & Trope, 2010;Zhang, Huang, & Broniarczyk, 2010).…”

Out of Reach and Under Control: Distancing as a Self-Control Strategy

“…This work also aligns well with general tenets proposed by Counteractive Control Theory which suggests self-control processes deploy, often outside of awareness, when people encounter temptation (Fishbach & Shah, 2006;Fishbach & Shen, 2014;Trope & Fishbach, 2000). The theory predicts that one way people successfully resolve selfcontrol conflicts is by decreasing the motivational strength of temptations (Fishbach & Converse, 2010). Consistent with predictions made in counteractive control models, distance may help to dampen the motivational pull of temptations.…”

Do Global and Local Systems Feel Different?

“…We find that abstract emotions help monitor the pursuit of abstract goals and concrete emotions help monitor the pursuit of concrete goals. We demonstrated these effects in the context of a self-control conflict between long-and short-term goals that compete for resources or that directly undermine each other (e.g., save money vs. impulsive spending, eating healthily vs. not; for review, see Fishbach & Converse, 2010). Within a self-control conflict, goals that offer long-term benefits are more abstract than goals that offer short-term benefits (a.k.a.…”