Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
Appetite. 2009 Dec;53(3):430-3. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.08.002. Epub 2009 Aug 8.
In the Western rich food environment, people are constantly confronted with palatable but unhealthy food products. For those who would like to watch their weight, the appeal of immediate satisfaction is in conflict with their long-term weight watching goal, constituting a classic self-control dilemma. The current studies were designed to test the effect of food temptations on self-regulation mechanisms. Hypotheses were based on counteractive control theory stating that temptations trigger goal-directed behavior, thereby forming an adaptive self-regulation mechanism. Two experimental studies showed that exposure to food temptations, compared to a control condition, yielded enhanced goal importance (Study 1), goal intentions, and goal-directed behavior (i.e., healthy eating; Study 2). It is concluded that confrontation with temptations is not always undermining self-control and may even be beneficial for long-term goal pursuit.
在西方丰富的食物环境中，人们不断面临美味但不健康的食品。对于那些想要控制体重的人来说，即时满足的诱惑与他们长期的体重控制目标相冲突，构成了一个典型的自我控制困境。本研究旨在测试食物诱惑对自我调节机制的影响。研究假设基于反向控制理论，该理论指出诱惑会引发目标导向行为，从而形成一种适应性的自我调节机制。两项实验研究表明，与控制条件相比，暴露于食物诱惑中会增强目标重要性（研究 1）、目标意图和目标导向行为（即健康饮食；研究 2）。研究结论是，面对诱惑并不总是会破坏自我控制，甚至可能对长期目标的追求有益。
