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willpower
You overestimate your ability to control your impulses.
The restraint bias is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to show self-control in the face of temptation.
Studies indicate that people who are hungry or tired assume they can resist snacks or fatigue better than they actually can. This leads to placing yourself in situations where you are likely to fail because you believe your willpower is absolute.
You are betting on a version of yourself that does not exist.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Nordgren et al., 2009
- What the check found
- The definition and the cited source (Nordgren, van der Pligt, & van Harreveld, 2009) are accurate. The provided reference material did not contain the text, so I relied on established academic knowledge.
- 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.