Many societal challenges, for example in the health and sustainability domain, involve human behaviour. The problem is often that unhealthy or environmentally harmful behaviours are perceived as more attractive than their healthy and pro-environmental alternatives, and that experiences with new healthy or pro-environmental behaviours are not always immediately pleasant. Here, we take a value-based decision making perspective and present a new psychological model of behaviour change. First, we adapt the existing Value-based Choice Model of self-control to better align with the behaviour change domain by, for example, mapping key concepts of this domain (e.g., attitudes, goals) onto our model. Second, whereas the endpoint of other models of behaviour change is the choice for a specific behaviour, the Value and Experience-based Model of Behaviour Change (VEM-BC) incorporates an experiential component. Specifically, it acknowledges the crucial importance of affective experiences during behaviour execution for long-term behaviour change. One central recommendation of the VEM-BC is, therefore, that interventions should aim at creating positive experiences with the desired target behaviour. By integrating insights from different research areas such as decision making, reinforcement learning, affective processing, self-control, and behaviour change, the VEM-BC offers a unified perspective and generates novel predictions for promoting lasting behaviour change.

Mental Fatigue, a feeling of exhaustion after prolonged mental effort, could affect when people decide to be honest or dishonest. Thus far, research has put forward two accounts that could explain how fatigue affects the choice to be dishonest: the self-interest overriding and the moral default account. In this study, we tested which of the two accounts people’s propensity to be dishonest or honest aligns more with. Although our manipulation did not yield the anticipated differences in fatigue, we can still draw tentative conclusions about the observed differences in cheating: higher fatigue levels, regardless of condition, are associated with less cheating, which is somewhat more consistent with the self-interest-overriding account. Moreover, within- and between-person fatigue effects showed that within-subjects higher-than-usual fatigue was associated with fewer cheating choices. We advise future fatigue research to focus on how decisions about dishonesty are made, rather than on the outcome of those decisions. Keywords: Mental Fatigue, Decision Making, Dishonesty, Moral Default

The link between self-control and success in various life domains is often explained by people avoiding hedonic pleasures, such as through inhibition, making the right choices, or using adaptive strategies. We propose an additional explanation: High self-control individuals prefer spending time on meaningful activities rather than pleasurable ones, whereas the opposite is true for individuals with high trait hedonic capacity. In Studies 1a and 1b, participants either imagined ( N = 449) or actually engaged in activities ( N = 231, pre-registered) during unexpected free time. They then rated their experience. In both studies, trait self-control was positively related to the eudaimonic experience (e.g., meaning) of activities and unrelated to their hedonic experience (e.g., pleasure). The opposite was true for trait hedonic capacity. Study 2 ( N = 248) confirmed these findings using a repeated-choice paradigm. The preference for eudaimonic over hedonic experiences may be a key aspect of successful long-term goal pursuit.

Many societal challenges, for example regarding health and sustainability, are conceptualized as problems of too little self-control: people’s long-term goals are jeopardized (e.g., healthy weight, small carbon footprint) because one cannot resist attractive alternatives (e.g., chocolate cake, vacation in the sun). Here, we introduce a different way of conceptualizing those challenges, namely as problems of ‘too little pleasure’. We review empirical evidence showing that pleasure can support three central aspects of self-control: the initiation of long-term goal behavior, persistence in long-term goal pursuit, and resisting tempting alternatives. We close by encouraging the field to change perspectives and to include pleasure in the solution of problems that have mainly been studied as a matter of too little self-control and too much pleasure.

The (over)consumption of alcohol and other addictive substances is often conceptualized as a problem of low self-control (i.e., people’s inability to inhibit unwanted impulses). According to that view, people drink because they cannot resist. In the present studies, we approached this from a different perspective and tested whether alcohol consumption might also be a problem of low hedonic capacity (i.e., people’s inability to experience pleasure and relaxation, often due to intrusive thoughts). According to that view, people drink because it helps them enjoy or cope with negative thoughts or emotions. In two studies among individuals at low risk of harmful alcohol use (e.g., AUDIT < 7) we consistently found that trait hedonic capacity was unrelated to alcohol consumption but negatively related to coping motivation (drinking alcohol to cope with negative thoughts and feelings; Study 1: N = 348; Study 2: N = 302, preregistered). Exploratory analyses in study 2 (conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic) also showed that people with low, but not high, trait hedonic capacity drank more alcohol in response to stress. Our findings are in line with the notion that people’s drinking motivation and behavior might not only be a problem of poor self-control but also of low trait hedonic capacity. They align with a new direction in addiction prevention and treatment research, which explores ways to help people to seek out and savor hedonic experiences from non-drug related reinforcers (e.g., engaging in leisure activities).

People regularly encounter various types of conflict. Here, we ask if, and, if so, how, different types of conflict, from lab-based Stroop conflicts to everyday- life self-control or moral conflicts, are related to one other. We present a framework that assumes that action-goal representations are hierarchically organized, ranging from concrete actions to abstract goals. The framework's key assumption is that conflicts involving more abstract goals (e.g., self-control/moral conflict) are embedded in a more complex action space; thus, to resolve such conflicts, people need to consider more associated goals and actions. We discuss how differences in complexity impact conflict resolution mechanisms and the costs/benefits of resolving conflicts. Altogether, we offer a new way to conceptualize and analyze conflict regulation across different domains.

Although pleasure is a primary motivator for sexual activity, research into the mechanisms facilitating pleasurable sexual experiences is limited. The present research adopts a self-regulatory perspective on sexual pleasure, investigating individuals? capacity to shield hedonic activities from distracting thoughts (trait hedonic capacity) as a correlate of sexual pleasure and sexualized drug use. Study 1 (N?=?247) demonstrates that young adults with higher trait hedonic capacity experience more sexual pleasure and are less prone to cognitive distraction during partnered sexual activities. Pre-registered Study 2 replicates these findings while accounting for demand effects (N?=?182, n?=?86). Expanding on these findings, pre-registered Study 3 (N?=?903) shows that young adults with lower trait hedonic capacity are more inclined to use alcohol as a means of coping with cognitive distraction during sexual activity. Exploratory moderation analyses suggest that this is particularly true for women and individuals with higher levels of stress. In summary, low trait hedonic capacity is associated with lower sexual pleasure and a tendency to use alcohol with the motivation to cope with distracting thoughts during partnered sexual activity.

This paper examines the role of hedonic goal pursuit in self-control and self-regulation. We argue that not all pursuit of immediate pleasure is problematic and that successful hedonic goal pursuit can be beneficial for long-term goal pursuit and for achieving positive self-regulatory outcomes, such as health and well-being. The following two key questions for future research are discussed: How can people’s positive affective experiences during hedonic goal pursuit be enhanced, and how exactly do those affective experiences contribute to self-regulatory outcomes? We also call for an intercultural perspective linking hedonic goal pursuit to self-regulatory outcomes at different levels. We suggest that understanding the cognitive, motivational, and affective mechanisms at play can help individuals reap the benefits of successful hedonic goal pursuit. Considering those potential benefits, hedonic goal pursuit should be studied more systematically. To achieve this, we argue for a stronger integration of affective science and self-control research.

Research suggests that people's capacity to successfully pursue hedonic goals is at least as important for well-being as trait self-control. Extending this research, we tested whether trait hedonic capacity is related to more time spent with hedonic goal pursuit (i.e., hedonic quantity) and whether this explains its positive relationship with well-being. Second, we explored whether this may come at a cost for people's performance. Results show that people with higher trait hedonic capacity do spend more time with hedonic goal pursuit (Study 1 and 2). However, hedonic quality not hedonic quantity accounts for its positive relationship with well-being. Further, people higher vs. lower in trait hedonic capacity perform equally well in their studies (Study 2) and their jobs (Study 3 and 4). Thus, trait hedonic capacity seems to allow people to invest more time into their hedonic goals in a way that does not jeopardize their academic and job performance.

Previous research mainly linked smartphone use while parenting to adverse consequences. However, smartphones also offer helpful resources for parents, especially in stressful situations. We suggested that negative norms against maternal smartphone use and associated feelings of guilt may inhibit effective smartphone use for coping with stress. In a 1-week experience sampling study with mothers of young children (N = 158), we found that more negative injunctive but not more negative descriptive norms around maternal smartphone use were related to increased situational guilt around smartphone use while parenting. Increased situational guilt was, in turn, associated with decreased perceived coping efficacy but not with less stress decrease. Situational guilt—aggregated on the individual level—related to reduced satisfaction with the mother role. Our results show that positive and negative smartphone use effects are intertwined and that feelings around media use can impact media effects.

People experience conflicts between goals, thoughts, and actions on a regular basis. Those conflict experiences can trigger a conflict mindset, a unique information processing style characterized by the activation and consideration of conflicting alternatives. This processing style has been associated with a reduced reliance on dominant or default response tendencies. It could, therefore, affect self-control decisions, in which in order to receive a larger delayed reward (e.g., good health) people need to forego a smaller immediate reward (e.g., tasty pizza). Importantly, the tendency to choose the delayed over the immediate reward varies between individuals, with people scoring low on trait impulsivity (or high on trait self-control) showing an overall stronger tendency to forgo the immediate reward. In three studies (N-total = 480) we tested the effect of a conflict (vs. neutral) mindset on people's repeated choices for smaller immediate over larger delayed rewards in a delay discounting task. A fully powered analysis across all three studies supported the notion that a conflict mindset reduced the influence of dispositional "default" response tendencies on self-control decisions: participants' trait impulsivity and self-control scores predicted delay discounting only in the neutral mindset condition. In the conflict mindset condition, those dispositional tendencies and delay discounting were unrelated. This finding extends previous work on conflict mindsets by showing that they can reduce the association between individual differences and behavior.

In this commentary we challenge Fitouchi et al.'s puritanical morality account by presenting evidence showing (1) that pursuing harmless pleasures can actually support self-regulation, and (2) that sharing pleasurable experiences can foster cooperation. We conclude that puritanical morality is not as adaptive as presented, and may even suppress the potential benefits pleasure can have for the individual and society.

Inhibitory-control training can change food consumption. Here, we review work on one specific inhibitory-control training, namely go/no-go training (GNG), with the aim of clarifying how this training changes behavior. Recent work suggests it is unlikely that GNG trains general inhibitory control or even food-specific inhibition. Instead, recent research suggests GNG changes the value of food items. These findings call for theorizing on how a training task in which people merely respond or not respond to food items without any external reinforcement can impact the value of these items. We propose the value of trained food items is updated during GNG by action and inaction decisions. This value-updating account is descriptively accurate and generates new research questions and testable hypotheses to better understand the underlying mechanisms of GNG. The account also prompts questions about how everyday NoGo decisions can stimulate moderate consumption patterns.

Spontaneous (i.e., heuristic, fast, effortless, and associative) processing has clear advantages for human cognition, but it can also elicit undesirable outcomes such as stereotyping and other biases. In the current article, we argue that biased judgements and behaviour that result from spontaneous processing can be reduced by activating various flexibility mindsets. These mindsets are characterised by the consideration of alternatives beyond one's spontaneous thoughts and behaviours and could, thus, contribute to bias reduction. Research has demonstrated that eliciting flexibility mindsets via goal and cognitive conflicts, counterfactual thinking,, recalling own past flexible thoughts or behaviour, and adopting a promotion focus reduces biases in judgements and behaviour. We summarise evidence for the effectiveness of flexibility mindsets across a wide variety of important phenomena - including creative performance, stereotyping and prejudice, interpersonal behaviour, and decision-making. Finally, we discuss the underlying processes and potential boundary conditions.

Behavior toward appetitive stimuli can be changed by motor response training procedures in which participants approach or respond to some stimuli and avoid or inhibit behavior to other stimuli. There is discussion in the literature whether effects are different when participants approach versus avoid stimuli during approach-avoidance training compared to when they respond versus not respond to stimuli during go/no-go training. Here, we directly compared effects of approach-avoidance training and go/no-go training on food choice within the same rigorous experimental protocol. Results showed that both training procedures influence food choice such that participants preferred Approach over Avoidance food items, and Go over NoGo food items, and these training effects were not statistically different. The present work suggests any inconsistencies in the literature on possible differences in effectiveness of these training procedures may be explained by differences in methods employed. The present work also raises new theoretical and applied questions about motor response training as a means to change behavior.

Many consumer choices nowadays involve ethical considerations (e.g., when buying clothes consumers can often choose between a standard and an ethically produced collection). Previous work has shown that how people feel after such ethically connotated consumer choices is a central determinant of their future ethical consumer behavior. However, most of that research focuses on the effect of choice outcomes (ethical vs. unethical product) on emotional and behavioral reactions. Challenging this outcome-focused approach, the present paper proposes that the experience of conflict (e.g., between ethical goals vs. self-interest) during decision-making has a significant additional effect on emotional reactions and future behavior. Results from one fully powered, preregistered study (N = 383) showed that conflict strength predicted increased negative post-choice emotions and reduced choice satisfaction. Importantly, this pattern occurred for ethical as well as unethical choice outcomes. Conflict also increased the likelihood of making the opposite choice in a subsequent ethical consumer choice situation-again independent of participants' prior choice. Those results are an important extension of previous work as they highlight the importance of taking experienced conflict into account when predicting post-choice emotions and future ethical consumer behavior.

Self-control helps to align behavior with long-term goals (e.g., exercising to stay fit) and shield it from conflicting hedonic goals (e.g., relaxing). Decades of research have shown that self-control is associated with numerous positive outcomes, such as well-being. In the present article, we argue that hedonic goal pursuit is equally important for well-being, and that conflicting long-term goals can undermine it in the form of intrusive thoughts. In Study 1, we developed a measure of trait hedonic capacity, which captures people's success in hedonic goal pursuit and the occurrence of intrusive thoughts. In Studies 2A and 2B, people's trait hedonic capacity relates positively to well-being. Study 3 confirms intrusive thoughts as major impeding mechanism of hedonic success. Studies 4 and 5 demonstrate that trait hedonic capacity predicts successful hedonic goal pursuit in everyday life. We conclude that hedonic goal pursuit represents a largely neglected but adaptive aspect of self-regulation.

People often experience self-control conflicts (i.e., feel tempted to indulge while motivated to resist). But, how do people feel after making such conflicted self-control choices? Whereas previous research has focused almost exclusively on the influence of choice outcomes (healthy vs. unhealthy) on emotional reactions (e.g., pride vs. guilt), we propose that the experience of conflict during decision making could have a unique influence, possibly fueling negative emotions (i.e., regret) regardless of people's choice outcomes. To test this, we studied immediate consequences of people's experience of conflict during self-control decision making (healthy vs. unhealthy food choice) on self-conscious emotions (i.e., guilt, regret, or pride), choice satisfaction and future behavior. Across 5 studies (vignette, field, and experience sampling), we found a link between self-control conflict and negativity: the more difficulty (proxy of conflict, Studies 1 and 2) or conflict (Studies 3 and 5) participants experienced during self-control decision making, the more negative they felt about their choice afterward. This was the case for unhealthy as well as healthy choices. Specifically, self-control conflict strength was associated with increased levels of guilt and regret (but not pride), with lower satisfaction and with lowered odds of making a similar choice in the future (Studies 1 to 3). Studies 4 and 5 suggested that conflict strength can boost pride after healthy choices, but only if participants first appraised their choice as acts of self-control. Our findings, therefore, highlight the costs as well as the potential benefits of experiencing conflict during self-control decision making. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).