Main content
VALUATION OF TEMPTATION ENACTMENT (VOTE)
Date created: | Last Updated:
: DOI | ARK
Creating DOI. Please wait...
Category: Project
Description: Materials and Data 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 behaviors 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-behavioral valuation dimension of impulsive behavior. We posit that individual differences in people’s valuation of temptation enactment qualify whether and to what extent impulsive behaviors trigger negative self-evaluations, and whether and to what extent people feel motivated to self-improve. Using a newly constructed Valuation of Temptation Enactment Scale (VOTE), 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; total N = 576). Across three subsequent studies (total N = 460), we then demonstrate that high, as compared to low VOTE, reduces the link between impulsive behaviors and negative self-conscious emotions (Studies 4 & 5), as well as between past impulsive behavior and self-improvement motivation (Study 6). These findings have implications for the discourse on self-control failure, and for the link between impulsive behavior and self-evaluation, self-improvement motivation, and well-being.