Self-control: Knowledge or perishable resource? Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 2017 The Author(s) The self-control literature suggests two main short-run models with contradictory predictions. By perceiving self-control as a knowledge or perishable resource, those models report a positive and negative impact, respectively, of an initial self-control act on subsequent self-control ability. Using biometric data to monitor compliance enabled us to develop a unified self-control model, reconciling the diverging results in the literature. We find evidence of a dual impact of an initial self-control act on subsequent impulse buying self-control ability. Specifically, while an initial moderate self-control act enhances subsequent self-control ability, exerting self-control beyond a certain threshold causes fatigue reducing subsequent self-control ability.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR & ORGANIZATION

altmetric score

  • 394.16

author list (cited authors)

  • Palma, M. A., Segovia, M. S., Kassas, B., Ribera, L. A., & Hall, C. R.

citation count

  • 13

complete list of authors

  • Palma, Marco A||Segovia, Michelle S||Kassas, Bachir||Ribera, Luis A||Hall, Charles R

publication date

  • January 2018