Unsure what the future will bring? You may overindulge: Uncertainty increases the appeal of wants over shoulds

Katherine Milkman

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2012, vol. 119, issue 2, 163-176

Abstract: This paper examines the effect of uncertainty about the future on whether individuals select want options (e.g., junk foods, lowbrow films) or instead exert self-control and select should options (e.g., healthy foods, highbrow films). Consistent with the ego-depletion literature, which suggests that self-control resembles an exhaustible muscle, coping with uncertainty about what the future may bring reduces self-control resources and increases individuals’ tendency to favor want options over should options. These results persist when real uncertainty is induced, when the salience of naturally-arising uncertainty is heightened and when individuals are able to make choices contingent upon the outcomes of uncertain events. Overall, this work suggests that reducing uncertainty in a decision maker’s environment may have important spillover effects, leading to less impulsive choices.

Keywords: Want/should conflict; Self-control; Uncertainty; Ego depletion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jobhdp:v:119:y:2012:i:2:p:163-176

DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.07.003

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