What people desire, feel conflicted about, and try to resist in everyday life
- PMID: 22547657
- DOI: 10.1177/0956797612437426
What people desire, feel conflicted about, and try to resist in everyday life
Abstract
In the present study, we used experience sampling to measure desires and desire regulation in everyday life. Our analysis included data from 205 adults, who furnished a total of 7,827 reports of their desires over the course of a week. Across various desire domains, results revealed substantial differences in desire frequency and strength, the degree of conflict between desires and other goals, and the likelihood of resisting desire and the success of this resistance. Desires for sleep and sex were experienced most intensively, whereas desires for tobacco and alcohol had the lowest average strength, despite the fact that these substances are thought of as addictive. Desires for leisure and sleep conflicted the most with other goals, and desires for media use and work brought about the most self-control failure. In addition, we observed support for a limited-resource model of self-control employing a novel operationalization of cumulative resource depletion: The frequency and recency of engaging in prior self-control negatively predicted people's success at resisting subsequent desires on the same day.
Similar articles
-
Everyday temptations: an experience sampling study of desire, conflict, and self-control.J Pers Soc Psychol. 2012 Jun;102(6):1318-35. doi: 10.1037/a0026545. Epub 2011 Dec 12. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2012. PMID: 22149456
-
When you shouldn't do what you want to do: young children's understanding of desires, rules, and emotions.Child Dev. 2005 May-Jun;76(3):713-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2005.00873.x. Child Dev. 2005. PMID: 15892788
-
Dieting and the self-control of eating in everyday environments: an experience sampling study.Br J Health Psychol. 2014 Sep;19(3):523-39. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12053. Epub 2013 Jun 10. Br J Health Psychol. 2014. PMID: 23751109 Free PMC article.
-
Motivation for social contact across the life span: a theory of socioemotional selectivity.Nebr Symp Motiv. 1992;40:209-54. Nebr Symp Motiv. 1992. PMID: 1340521 Review.
-
A concept analysis of health-related quality of life in young people with chronic illness.J Clin Nurs. 2008 Jul;17(14):1823-33. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02379.x. J Clin Nurs. 2008. PMID: 18578756 Review.
Cited by
-
Strength in cognitive self-regulation.Front Psychol. 2013 Apr 11;4:174. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00174. eCollection 2013. Front Psychol. 2013. PMID: 23596430 Free PMC article.
-
Predictors of Nutritional Status, Depression, Internet Addiction, Facebook Addiction, and Tobacco Smoking Among Women With Eating Disorders in Spain.Front Psychiatry. 2021 Nov 26;12:735109. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.735109. eCollection 2021. Front Psychiatry. 2021. PMID: 34899416 Free PMC article.
-
Unpacking Self-Control.Child Dev Perspect. 2015 Mar;9(1):32-37. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12107. Child Dev Perspect. 2015. PMID: 25821515 Free PMC article.
-
Measurement of Motivation States for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: Development and Validation of the CRAVE Scale.Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 25;12:568286. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.568286. eCollection 2021. Front Psychol. 2021. PMID: 33841225 Free PMC article.
-
Childhood self-control and unemployment throughout the life span: evidence from two British cohort studies.Psychol Sci. 2015 Jun;26(6):709-23. doi: 10.1177/0956797615569001. Epub 2015 Apr 13. Psychol Sci. 2015. PMID: 25870404 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources