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self control
You consistently overestimate your ability to handle immediate temptation.
The restraint bias is a pattern where individuals overestimate their self-control and consequently put themselves in situations they cannot manage.
In a 2009 study, smokers were significantly more likely to overestimate their ability to resist cravings when placed in environments filled with smoking cues. By assuming you can manage temptation, you fail to build the necessary distance from it. You are rarely as disciplined as you imagine in the moment.
True discipline involves avoiding the test, not just passing it.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Nordgren et al., 2009, Psychological Science
- What the check found
- The definition is accurate to the seminal paper by Nordgren, van Harreveld, and van der Pligt. While not in the provided snippets, the term is a recognized psychological construct.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.