Turning vice into virtue - when low self-control states facilitate goal-oriented behaviours

Abstract

Despite having good intentions, people often fail to exercise self-control to act in line with their long-term goals. Research shows that even mundane circumstances such as ego-depletion, mental distraction, and hunger could all hamper self-control performance. Considering these circumstances are inevitably part of daily life, the current dissertation aimed to gain a deeper understanding of low self-control states and how they affect performance. Critically, we worked with, rather than against, states of low self-control by exploring strategies that capitalized on the decision-making processes prominent in these situations to promote goal-oriented behaviours. The first part of the dissertation assessed the role of motivation underlying self-control performance. We found that in normal circumstances people exhibited greater approach motivation towards goal-oriented (e.g., healthy food) than reward-oriented stimuli (e.g., unhealthy food), whereas in low self-control states (i.e., ego-depletion, mental distraction) people had similar approach motivation towards both options. We inferred the lack of distinction in motivation towards a virtue vs. vice in low self-control states might contribute to individuals’ increased susceptibility to environmental influences. The second part of the dissertation investigated the influence of environmental cues to promote goal-oriented behaviours in low self-control states. Dual-processing theories posit behaviours result from two distinct, but interacting processing modes: System 1 processing that is fast, automatic, and susceptible to environmental influences, and System 2 processing that is slow, deliberate, and guided by explicit goals. Based on the theoretical premise that low self-control states heighten System I processing, we predicted individuals in low self-control states would increasingly rely on heuristics to expedite decision-making. Accordingly, we tested the hypothesis that individuals in low self-control states due to ego-depletion or hunger would favour goal-oriented outcomes if they were promoted by heuristics installed in the environment. Findings demonstrated that ego-depleted people benefitted from following scarcity heuristics (i.e., scarce products are more valuable), namely the demand (vs. supply) scarcity, to favour more virtuous (e.g., healthy food, utilitarian products) than vice options (unhealthy food, hedonic products). We generalized these results by showing that hungry people selected more healthy food when there was a social proof heuristic (i.e., using others’ behaviour as reference for own behaviour) promoting them. The last part of the dissertation tested the effectiveness of nudges in real-life contexts where people were not inclined to exert self-control. Nudges are described as subtle changes to the physical environment that can steer people’s behaviour predictably towards outcomes that align with their interests, but without imposing restrictions or changes in economic incentives. Findings from a field study conducted at a take-away food vendor showed that an accessibility nudge (i.e., placing fruits next to the cashier) increased the sales of fruits, whereas a social proof nudge (i.e., presenting the yoghurt shake as a popular product) and salience nudge (i.e., presenting healthy bread rolls more attractively) had limited effectiveness assumedly due to strong existing consumer preferences. Presenting a disclosure message to increase the transparency of the nudge´s intended purpose did not influence its effectiveness. Finally, semi-structured interviews revealed consumers’ positive reception to nudges promoting healthy eating.