When Impulsive Behaviours Do Not Equal Self–Control Failures: The (Added) Value of Temptation Enactment

Most work on self–control and impulsivity typically assumes, more or less tacitly, that people value self–control as more important than succumbing to temptations. According to this narrative, people regard impulsive behaviours as ‘failures’ of self–control and experience negative self–evaluations such as feelings of guilt or shame in response. Here, we direct attention to a neglected but crucial meta–behavioural valuation dimension of impulsive behaviour. We posit that individual differences in people's valuation of temptation enactment (VOTE) qualify whether and to what extent impulsive behaviours trigger negative self–evaluations and whether and to what extent people feel motivated to self–improve. Using a newly constructed VOTE scale, we first show that individual differences in VOTE can be reliably measured and clearly distinguished from traditional impulsivity or self–control scales (Studies 1–3; total N = 576). Across three subsequent studies (total N = 460), we then demonstrate that high VOTE, as compared with low VOTE, reduces the link between impulsive behaviours and negative self–conscious emotions (Studies 4 and 5), as well as between past impulsive behaviour and self–improvement motivation (Study 6). These findings have implications for the discourse on self–control failure and for the link between impulsive behaviour and self–evaluation, self–improvement motivation, and well–being. © 2020 European Association of Personality Psychology