a Social, Health & Organizational Psychology , Utrecht University , Utrecht , Netherlands.
Psychol Health. 2019 Jan;34(1):24-43. doi: 10.1080/08870446.2018.1508683. Epub 2018 Nov 13.
Research on self-licensing, i.e. employing justifications to give into temptation, largely consists of studies examining dichotomous food choices (healthy vs. unhealthy), while evidence for its effects on how much (unhealthy) food is consumed remains scarce. The present studies aimed to demonstrate self-licensing effects on caloric consumption in both lab (Study 1 & 2) and field setting (Study 3).
In all studies, female student samples were recruited. They either received a justification cue (license condition) or not (control condition), after which they could eat freely from unhealthy snacks (Study 1, N = 85 and Study 2, N = 95) or choose a snack for direct consumption at a take-out lunch place (Study 3, N = 110).
Caloric value of consumed snacks (Study 1 and 2) and chosen snack (Study 3).
In all studies, caloric consumption was higher in the license condition compared to the control condition: Participants ate more of the provided unhealthy snacks (Study 1 and 2) and chose a snack of higher caloric value (Study 3).
The present research corroborates self-licensing as an important factor in the consumption of unhealthy foods by employing more ecologically valid outcomes.
自我许可的研究，即利用合理化借口来屈服于诱惑，主要包括对二分法食物选择（健康与不健康）的研究，而关于其对食用多少（不健康）食物的影响的证据仍然很少。本研究旨在展示自我许可效应对实验室（研究 1 和 2）和现场设置（研究 3）中卡路里消耗的影响。
在所有研究中，均招募了女学生样本。在许可条件下，她们收到了一个合理化线索（许可条件），而在控制条件下则没有（控制条件），之后她们可以自由食用不健康的零食（研究 1，N=85；研究 2，N=95），或者在外出午餐时选择一种零食直接食用（研究 3，N=110）。
消耗零食的卡路里值（研究 1 和 2）和选择的零食（研究 3）。
在所有研究中，许可条件下的卡路里消耗均高于控制条件：参与者食用了更多提供的不健康零食（研究 1 和 2），并选择了卡路里值更高的零食（研究 3）。
本研究通过采用更具生态有效性的结果，证明自我许可效应对不健康食物的消费是一个重要因素。
