When Impulsive Behaviours Do Not Equal Self-Control Failures: The (Added) Value of Temptation Enactment

Most work on self-control and impulsivity typically assumes, more or less tacitly, that people value self-control as more important than succumbing to temptations. According to this narrative, people regard impulsive behaviours as 'failures' of self-control and experience negative self-evaluations such as feelings of guilt or shame in response. Here, we direct attention to a neglected but crucial meta-behavioural valuation dimension of impulsive behaviour. We posit that individual differences in people's valuation of temptation enactment (VOTE) qualify whether and to what extent impulsive behaviours trigger negative self-evaluations and whether and to what extent people feel motivated to self-improve. Using a newly constructed VOTE scale, we first show that individual differences in VOTE can be reliably measured and clearly distinguished from traditional impulsivity or self-control scales (Studies 1-3; totalN = 576). Across three subsequent studies (totalN = 460), we then demonstrate that high VOTE, as compared with low VOTE, reduces the link between impulsive behaviours and negative self-conscious emotions (Studies 4 and 5), as well as between past impulsive behaviour and self-improvement motivation (Study 6). These findings have implications for the discourse on self-control failure and for the link between impulsive behaviour and self-evaluation, self-improvement motivation, and well-being. (c) 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology

Automated summary

This study focuses on the meta-behavioral valuation dimension of impulsive behavior, suggesting that individual differences in people's valuation of temptation enactment (VOTE) can impact their views on self-control. High VOTE reduces the link between impulsive behaviors and negative emotions, as well as between past impulsive behavior and motivation for self-improvement.