THE EFFECTS OF BEHAVIORAL-INHIBITION - INTEGRATING INTERNAL CUES, COGNITION, BEHAVIOR, AND AFFECT

This article reviews the literature on behavioral inhibition and sugge sts that repeated attempts to inhibit motivations to act (such as emot ion, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal, and drug cravings) involve confli ct and have cognitive, affective, and behavioral consequences, many of which are negative. People often have difficulty ignoring motivationa l guides to behavior, and this often results in emotional distress and maladaptive behavior. Such suppression might produce health problems, negative affect, cognitive disruption, and eventual behavioral excess . These reactions occur whether the inhibited activity involves failur e to express emotion, repressive responses to stress, or avoidance of internally motivated activities, such as eating or drinking. Although the exact mechanism underlying these effects is not yet clear, the sim ilarities across behaviors are provocative. Whereas the benefits of su ppressing some behaviors that are themselves unhealthy or otherwise co stly (such as smoking) might well outweigh the negative effects of att empted inhibition, it appears to be important for the individual to be aware that these costs exist. Without such acknowledgment, society's proscriptions on expressing such motivated behaviors might exacerbate rather than eliminate a multitude of problems.