| dc.description.abstract | A number of major societal issues today stem from individual-level struggles with self-control. To this point, much self-control research has focused on the intra-psychic interplay between an isolated individual and the tempting decision at hand. However, what of the external, societal forces that may dramatically shape our choices between virtue and vice? Indeed, it has been posited that self-control ultimately exists in human beings as a means to serve the underlying purpose of helping us to be good members of a group. Still, despite the powerful influence individuals exert on one another, relatively little has been researched regarding ways that social influence impacts self-control.
Essay 1 examines “parallel” self-control decisions. In a series of studies spanning the domains of money, time management, and food consumption, consumers demonstrated a tendency to bond over matched self-control decisions through “co-indulgence” or “co-abstinence.” The perceived severity of choosing vice over virtue influenced when each of these matched outcomes produced greater affiliation.
Essay 2 examines the effects of confession self-control behavior. While there may be many reasons one might choose to disclose one’s “sins,” very little is known about what confession actually does: is confession licensing or reinforcing for subsequent self-control decisions? Essay 2 proposes the theory and demonstrates across four studies that confessing high-guilt events boosts subsequent self-control, while confessing relatively low-guilt indiscretions results in a classic licensing effect.
Overall, this dissertation has not only theoretical implications for the literature in both marketing and psychology in the areas of self-control, social influence and social identity, but has both managerial and public policy implications as well. To theory, this work contributes a new framework, new constructs, and new results that expand our understanding of self-control decision making and the role of others in those decisions. | en |
