9/3/2023 0 Comments Lack of selfcontrol with food![]() However, the assumption that a self-control dilemma evokes internal conflict has so far been untested and therefore it remains unknown whether self-regulatory failure is due to a lack of cognitive control, or to the absence of experienced conflict. This has led to a large number of studies aimed at improving individuals' ability to overcome the self-control dilemma. Consequently, self-regulatory failure is usually attributed to the subsequent inability to resolve the conflict in favor of the long term goal. Examples of such self-control strategies are bolstering the value of the long-term goal or using other cognitive strategies aimed at keeping the long-term goal in the focus of attention (e.g., Metcalfe and Mischel, 1999 Peake et al., 2002).Īt the heart of self-regulation theory lies the assumption that if someone with the long-term goal to limit intake is faced with a food choice that threatens the accomplishment of this goal, this results in the experience of an internal conflict ( Fishbach et al., 2003). In order to resolve this dilemma and behave in line with their intentions, self-control should be exercised ( Baumeister and Heatherton, 1996 Fishbach et al., 2003). For weight-concerned individuals, choosing between healthy and (more tasty) unhealthy foods is regarded as a classic self-control dilemma involving the trade-off between immediate eating enjoyment and the future benefits of being slim and healthy ( Fishbach et al., 2003). The absence of a relation between self-reports of weight-consciousness and food intake indicates that high scores on restraint and weight-concerns are a measure of intention rather than a predictor of behavior (e.g., Stice et al., 2010). However, despite their intentions, weight-concerned individuals generally fail to control their food intake: they do not eat less than non-weight-concerned counterparts ( Stice et al., 2004, 2007, 2010 de Witt Huberts et al., 2013) and their ratings of weight concerns even predict future weight gain ( French et al., 1994 Mann et al., 2007). This implies that effectiveness of weight maintenance interventions might be improved if they also focus on increasing the ability to detect a self-control dilemma, in addition to the current focus on increasing self-regulatory capacity.Īpproximately 50–60% of the Western female population guard themselves against the risks of the obesogenic environment by attempting to limit their energy intake ( Rideout and Barr, 2009 Fayet et al., 2012 de Ridder et al., in press). Our results suggest that self-control failure might be due to a lack of experienced conflict, rather than to failing to act upon the perception of such conflict. Contrary to the common assumption in self-control theory that food choices posing a self-control dilemma evoke internal conflict, we found that choices requiring self-control induced no conflict, as demonstrated by lower reaction times, fixation durations, number of gaze switches between snacks, and lower activation of the anterior cingulate cortex. ![]() The present study used fMRI, eye tracking and reaction times to assess the degree of conflict experienced by weight-concerned women during food choices that posed either a self-control dilemma (i.e., requiring a choice between healthy and palatable foods), or not. ![]() However, it is unknown whether this failure is due to a lack of effortful self-control, or to not experiencing an internal conflict between weight goals and food temptations.
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