Emotions and self-control 1 Incidental and Integral ... - Michael Inzlicht

Emotions and self-control 8
Experiments that compare the consequences of low-intensity versus high-intensity positive
emotions may also help to clarify the role of arousal in the effects of emotions on eating.
Another potentially useful consideration is self-relevance. As we saw, negative emotions
elicited by self-relevant threats (e.g., failure, negative feedback) tend to have different effects on
eating behavior compared to other threats (e.g., threat of shock). Positive emotions can also vary
in self-relevance, and it may be worthwhile to ask whether flattery, task success, or other self-
enhancing events have different effects on eating self-control compared to viewing funny videos.
Self-relevant positive emotions may be more intense or arousing than other positive emotions.
Conclusion
Having reviewed the evidence that emotions disrupt the self-control of eating behavior,
the next question is: Why do emotions have this effect? The short answer is that no single
explanation or theory has emerged to explain the relevant evidence. In the next section of the
chapter, after considering the impact of emotions on another classic form of self-control, we will
review the leading explanations for the effects of emotions in more detail.
Incidental Effects of Emotions on Delay of Gratification
Delay of gratification occurs whenever a person foregoes short-term satisfactions in the
pursuit of more distal rewards. Dieting can be seen as delay of gratification (e.g., restraint now to
fit into a swimsuit next summer), but delay behavior is more general than dieting insofar as
virtually any gratification can be delayed. How do emotions influence delay of gratification?
Here we focus on evidence from experiments in which emotional states were induced prior to a
measurement of delay of gratification.
Effects of emotions on delay of gratification in children