Restraint Bias

Restraint Bias

Time for Reflection 

Ever fell prey to a temptation that you thought you could resist ?

Ever made a resolution (new year or otherwise) to get rid of an addictive or compulsive behavior but gave up your efforts when it proved too much for you ?

Ever tried testing your will power on something you were confident of accomplishing, but fell short ?

Life is full of temptations and urges and we come across many of them in our daily life. Many a times, we tend to miscalculate our ability to resist the temptation/ challenge and this is what indicates the presence of  "Restraint Bias" in us, as in the case of above cited scenarios.

About Restraint Bias

Restraint Bias is defined as the tendency of the people to overestimate their capacity for impulse control. Various studies have examined how our beliefs regarding our ability to regulate visceral impulses influence our self-control process. Inflated impulse-control beliefs led people to overexpose themselves to temptation, thereby promoting impulsive behavior.

Loran Nordgren from Northwestern University performed a series of four experiments to show the presence of "restraint bias" in people and also demonstrated that those who feel invulnerable fall prey to this bias most strongly and are more likely to face tempting situations.

The bias leads us into taking decision that increase our exposure to temptations and urges, and, thus, increase our probability to succumb to these temptations and urges. The bias also offers unique insight into how erroneous beliefs about self-restraint promote impulsive behavior. The bias is quite evident in people suffering from addiction, who tend to overestimate their ability to control urges, find themselves facing a bigger temptation/ urge and in the end fall for it.

The cause of Restraint Bias is our inability to correctly predict the future and our feelings and behavior in circumstances that are different from the current one.

The bias impacts exposes us to more temptation and increased impulsiveness. It also impacts our decision-making and our over-inflated ego leads to denting our self-esteem badly. 

Taming a bigger temptation/ urge takes time and practice !