Counteractive self-control in overcoming temptation

How do anticipated short-term costs affect the likelihood of engaging in an activity that has long-term benefits. Five studies investigated the factor s that determine (a) how anticipated short-term costs elicit self-control e fforts and (b) how self-control efforts eventually diminish the influence o f short-term costs on behavior. The studies manipulated short-term costs (e .g., painful medical procedures) and assessed a variety of self-control str ategies (e.g., self-imposed penalties for failure to undergo a test). The r esults show that short-term costs elicit self control strategies for self r ather than others, before rather than after behavior, when long-term benefi ts are important rather than unimportant and when the costs are moderate ra ther than extremely small or large. The results also show that the self-con trol efforts help people act according to their long-term interests.