When Guidelines Become Demands: Highly Restrictive Standards Promote Self-Regulatory Failure

dc.contributor.advisorSigall, Harolden_US
dc.contributor.authorBuzinski, Steven G.en_US
dc.contributor.departmentPsychologyen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2012-02-17T06:46:32Z
dc.date.available2012-02-17T06:46:32Z
dc.date.issued2011en_US
dc.description.abstractSelf-regulation is often defined as the process of altering one's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors in order to attain, or maintain, some desired standard (Vohs & Baumeister, 2004). As such, the standards or goals that one commits to influence the likelihood of self-regulatory success or failure (Baumeister, Schmeichel, & Vohs, 2007). Three experiments were conducted to explore whether framing a goal as highly restrictive leads to decrements in self-regulation (hypothesis 1), and whether or not these goals increase ego depletion (hypothesis 2). Study 1 demonstrated that a highly restrictive goal frame caused an increased valuation of goal-damaging temptations. Study 2 replicated and extended Study 1 by demonstrating that highly restrictive goal framing caused greater temptation indulgence as well. Study 3 tested whether or not highly restrictive goals increase levels of ego depletion, a state associated with self-regulatory failure (Schmeichel & Vohs, 2009), but did not support the hypothesis. The role of psychological reactance (Brehm, 1966; Brehm & Brehm, 1981) in these results, as well as possible future research, is discussed.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/12263
dc.subject.pqcontrolledSocial psychologyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledEgo Depletionen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledGoalsen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledReactanceen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledRestrictionen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledSelf-Regulationen_US
dc.titleWhen Guidelines Become Demands: Highly Restrictive Standards Promote Self-Regulatory Failureen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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