Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices
The ability to delay rewards is one of the most useful qualities one may wish to develop. People who possess this quality achieve more successful careers, display better interpersonal skills and are less vulnerable to psychopathology, obesity or addictions. In the present online studies, we investig...
Main Authors: | , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-08-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01722/full |
id |
doaj-b3ba1a6f42864f59a89c84e715156d2f |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-b3ba1a6f42864f59a89c84e715156d2f2020-11-25T01:29:47ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-08-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.01722452735Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal ChoicesGayannée Kedia0Hilmar Brohmer1Marc Scholten2Katja Corcoran3Katja Corcoran4Social Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaSocial Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaDepartment of Marketing, Universidade Europeia, Lisbon, PortugalSocial Psychology, University of Graz, Graz, AustriaBiotechmed, Graz, AustriaThe ability to delay rewards is one of the most useful qualities one may wish to develop. People who possess this quality achieve more successful careers, display better interpersonal skills and are less vulnerable to psychopathology, obesity or addictions. In the present online studies, we investigated the extent to which delay-of-reward behaviors in female participants can be improved by observing others mastering it. We developed an intertemporal choice (IC) paradigm in which participants had to make fictitious choices between sooner smaller rewards and later bigger ones (e.g., $150 in 1 week vs. $170 in 4 weeks). In Study 1 (N = 186), we found that participants who delayed more had higher socioeconomic statuses and were less likely to procrastinate, smoke or develop obesity. In Study 2 (N = 178), we exposed female participants to a role model who, faced with ICs, chose most of the time the delayed option. Results showed that, although participants were only asked to memorize the model’s decisions, they tended to choose the delayed option more often after than before exposure to the model. In Study 3 (N = 148), we found that the direction of the influence depended on the model’s behavior: our female participants delayed more after having seen a high delay than a low delay model. In Study 4 (N = 370), we confirmed the effect of modeling on ICs in comparison to a control condition and showed that this effect was still significant 3 months after exposure to the model. Altogether, these results speak in favor of a high efficacy of modeling to develop self-control in women.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01722/fullintertemporal choicesmodelingself-controlobservational learningprocrastinationreward |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Gayannée Kedia Hilmar Brohmer Marc Scholten Katja Corcoran Katja Corcoran |
spellingShingle |
Gayannée Kedia Hilmar Brohmer Marc Scholten Katja Corcoran Katja Corcoran Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices Frontiers in Psychology intertemporal choices modeling self-control observational learning procrastination reward |
author_facet |
Gayannée Kedia Hilmar Brohmer Marc Scholten Katja Corcoran Katja Corcoran |
author_sort |
Gayannée Kedia |
title |
Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices |
title_short |
Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices |
title_full |
Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices |
title_fullStr |
Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices |
title_full_unstemmed |
Improving Self-Control: The Influence of Role Models on Intertemporal Choices |
title_sort |
improving self-control: the influence of role models on intertemporal choices |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Psychology |
issn |
1664-1078 |
publishDate |
2019-08-01 |
description |
The ability to delay rewards is one of the most useful qualities one may wish to develop. People who possess this quality achieve more successful careers, display better interpersonal skills and are less vulnerable to psychopathology, obesity or addictions. In the present online studies, we investigated the extent to which delay-of-reward behaviors in female participants can be improved by observing others mastering it. We developed an intertemporal choice (IC) paradigm in which participants had to make fictitious choices between sooner smaller rewards and later bigger ones (e.g., $150 in 1 week vs. $170 in 4 weeks). In Study 1 (N = 186), we found that participants who delayed more had higher socioeconomic statuses and were less likely to procrastinate, smoke or develop obesity. In Study 2 (N = 178), we exposed female participants to a role model who, faced with ICs, chose most of the time the delayed option. Results showed that, although participants were only asked to memorize the model’s decisions, they tended to choose the delayed option more often after than before exposure to the model. In Study 3 (N = 148), we found that the direction of the influence depended on the model’s behavior: our female participants delayed more after having seen a high delay than a low delay model. In Study 4 (N = 370), we confirmed the effect of modeling on ICs in comparison to a control condition and showed that this effect was still significant 3 months after exposure to the model. Altogether, these results speak in favor of a high efficacy of modeling to develop self-control in women. |
topic |
intertemporal choices modeling self-control observational learning procrastination reward |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01722/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT gayanneekedia improvingselfcontroltheinfluenceofrolemodelsonintertemporalchoices AT hilmarbrohmer improvingselfcontroltheinfluenceofrolemodelsonintertemporalchoices AT marcscholten improvingselfcontroltheinfluenceofrolemodelsonintertemporalchoices AT katjacorcoran improvingselfcontroltheinfluenceofrolemodelsonintertemporalchoices AT katjacorcoran improvingselfcontroltheinfluenceofrolemodelsonintertemporalchoices |
_version_ |
1725094682196705280 |