Public acceptability of nudging is receiving increasingly more attention, but studies remain limited to evaluations of aspects of the nudge itself or (inferred intentions) of the nudger. Yet, it is ...important to investigate which individuals are likely to accept nudges, as those who are supposed to benefit from the implementation should not oppose it. The main objective of this study was to integrate research on self-regulation and nudging, and to examine acceptability of nudges as a function of self-regulation capacity and motivation.
Participants (N = 301) filled in questionnaires about several components of self-regulation capacity (self-control, proactive coping competence, self-efficacy, perceived control and perceived difficulty) and motivation (autonomous motivation and controlled motivation). To evaluate nudge acceptability, we used three vignettes describing three types of nudges (default, portion size, and rearrangement) that stimulated either a pro-self behavior (healthy eating) or pro-social behavior (sustainable eating) and asked participants to rate the nudges on (aspects of) acceptability.
Results revealed that there were substantial differences in acceptability between the three types of nudges, such that the default nudge was seen as less acceptable and the rearrangement nudge as most acceptable. The behavior that was stimulated did not affect acceptability, even though the nudges that targeted healthy eating were seen as more pro-self than the nudges targeting sustainable eating. From all self-regulation components, autonomous motivation was the only measure that was consistently associated with nudge acceptability across the three nudges. For self-regulatory capacity, only some elements were occasionally related to acceptability for some nudges.
The current study thus shows that people are more inclined to accept nudges that target behaviors that they are autonomously motivated for, while people do not meaningfully base their judgments of acceptability on self-regulatory capacity.
Nudges have repeatedly been found to be effective, however they are claimed to harm autonomy, and it has been found that laypeople expect this too. To test whether these expectations translate to ...actual harm to experienced autonomy, three online studies were conducted. The paradigm used in all studies was that participants were asked to voluntarily participate in a longer version of the questionnaire. This was either done in a hypothetical setting, where participants imagined they were asked this question, but did not answer it, and reported their expectations for autonomy; Or in an actual choice setting where participants answered the question and then reported their actual autonomy. The first study utilized the hypothetical setting and tried to replicate that laypeople expect nudges to harm autonomy with the current paradigm. A total of 451 participants were randomly assigned to either a control, a default nudge, or a social norm nudge condition. In the default nudge condition, the affirmative answer was pre-selected, and in the social norm nudge condition it was stated that most people answered affirmative. The results showed a trend for lower expected autonomy in nudge conditions, but did not find significant evidence. In Study 2, with a sample size of 454, the same design was used in an actual choice setting. Only the default nudge was found to be effective, and no difference in autonomy was found. In Study 3, Studies 1 and 2 were replicated. Explanation of the nudge was added as an independent variable and the social norm nudge condition was dropped, resulting in six conditions and 1322 participants. The results showed that participants indeed expected default nudges to harm their autonomy, but only if the nudge was explained. When actually nudged, no effect on autonomy was found, independent of the presence of an explanation.
Procrastination is a prevalent and problematic phenomenon that has mostly been studied in the domain of academic behavior. The current study shows that procrastination may also lead to harmful ...outcomes in the area of health behavior, introducing bedtime procrastination as an important factor related to getting insufficient sleep and consequently affecting individual well-being. Bedtime procrastination is defined as failing to go to bed at the intended time, while no external circumstances prevent a person from doing so.
To empirically support the conceptual introduction of bedtime procrastination, an online survey study was conducted among a community sample (N = 177). The relationship between bedtime procrastination and individual difference variables related to self-regulation and general procrastination was assessed. Moreover, it was investigated whether bedtime procrastination was a predictor of self-reported sleep outcomes (experienced insufficient sleep, hours of sleep, fatigue during the day).
Bedtime procrastination was negatively associated with self-regulation: people who scored lower on self-regulation variables reported more bedtime procrastination. Moreover, self-reported bedtime procrastination was related to general reports of insufficient sleep above and beyond demographics and self-regulation.
Introducing a novel domain in which procrastinators experience problems, bedtime procrastination appears to be a prevalent and relevant issue that is associated with getting insufficient sleep.
A recent study suggests that habits play a mediating role in the association between trait self-control and eating behavior, supporting a notion of effortless processes in trait self-control ...(Adriaanse et al., 2014). We conceptually replicated this research in the area of exercise behavior, hypothesizing that these associations would generalize to other self-control related behaviors. Sufficient exercise is essential for several health and well-being outcomes, and therefore many people intend to exercise. However, the majority of the population does not actually exercise to a sufficient or intended extent, due to competing temptations and short-term goals. This conflict makes exercise a typical example of a self-control dilemma. A within-subjects survey study was conducted to test associations between trait self-control, habit strength, and exercise behavior. Participants were recruited at a local gym. Results demonstrated that trait self-control predicted exercise behavior. Mediation analysis revealed that the association between self-control and exercise was mediated by stronger exercise habits, replicating findings by Adriaanse et al. (2014). These results highlight the relevance of self-control in the domain of exercise. In addition, they add to a growing body of knowledge on the underlying mechanisms of trait self-control on behavior that point to habit-rather than effortful impulse inhibition-as a potential key to self-control success.
People experience minor instances of self‐regulation failure, i.e., setbacks. While in itself trivial, a single setback may trigger a maladaptive chain of cognitions and emotions leading to more ...self‐regulation failure. In the present article, we investigated (a) whether the experience of a setback indeed increases the chance of subsequent failure, and (b) what psychological mechanisms underly this effect. We conducted three studies in the context of eating behaviour, exercising, and saving. At T1 we assessed participants intentions, self‐efficacy, and perceived usefulness to self‐regulate in response to a recent setback (versus an instance of self‐regulation success). At T2 we assessed subsequent self‐regulation failure and success using retrospective recall. Experiencing a setback increased the likelihood of subsequent failure and decreased the chances of subsequent success. Our results most consistently highlight a decrease in self‐efficacy as an underlying mechanism, and therefore as a promising target for interventions to prevent the setback effect from occurring.
Previous studies show that the effects of (non-transparent) nudges can spill over to later similar decisions without nudges. In the current study, we aimed to determine whether such nudge temporal ...spillover effects are affected by making nudges transparent. The latter is recommended to (partly) mitigate ethical concerns surrounding the use of nudges. In two experiments, we nudged participants to complete a longer version of a survey. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control, a non-disclosed nudge (using a default to promote taking the longer survey) condition or a disclosed nudge (in which the use of the default nudge was explained) condition. In both Study 1 (N = 1270) and Study 2 (N = 1258) we observed a temporal spillover effect of the disclosed nudge, suggesting that transparency does not negatively affect the temporal spillover effect.
Nudges, such as defaults, are generally found to be effective in guiding immediate behavioural decisions. However, little is known about whether the effect of a nudge can be lasting, meaning that it ...spills over to subsequent similar choices without the presence of a nudge. In three experiments, we explored the temporal spillover effects of a default nudge. The results of Experiments 1 (
N
= 1,077) and 2 (
N
= 1,036) suggest that nudging participants into completing a longer questionnaire affected their decision for the same behaviour a day later without the presence of a nudge. However, nudging participants into a healthier food choice in Experiment 3 (
N
= 969) did not result in such a temporal spillover effect. The results indicated that participants' change in attitude towards the nudged behaviour may partly explain the temporal spillover effects. These findings suggest that for some, but not all behaviours, default nudges may have the potential to yield temporal spillover effects and warrant a further investigation of boundary conditions and facilitators of the spillover effects of nudges.
In contrast to prevailing beliefs, recent research suggests that trait self-control promotes health behavior not because those high in self-control are more successful at resisting single ...temptations, but rather because they develop adaptive habits. The present paper presents a first empirical test of this novel suggestion by investigating the mediating role of habit in explaining the relation between self-control and unhealthy snacking behavior. Results showed that self-control was negatively associated with unhealthy snack consumption and unhealthy snacking habits. As hypothesized, the relation between self-control and unhealthy snack intake was mediated by habit strength. Self-control was not associated with fruit consumption or fruit consumption habits. These results provide the first evidence for the notion that high self-control may influence the formation of habits and in turn affect behavior. Moreover, results imply that self-control may be particularly influential in case of inhibiting unhealthy food intake rather than promoting healthy food intake.
Getting insufficient sleep has serious consequences in terms of mental and physical health. The current study is the first to approach insufficient sleep from a self-regulation perspective by ...investigating the phenomenon of bedtime procrastination: going to bed later than intended, without having external reasons for doing so. Data from a representative sample of Dutch adults (N = 2431) revealed that a large proportion of the general population experiences getting insufficient sleep and regularly goes to bed later than they would like to. Most importantly, a relationship between self-regulation and experienced insufficient sleep was found, which was mediated by bedtime procrastination.
Abstract
Background
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, physical distancing and hand washing have been used as effective means to reduce virus transmission in the Netherlands. However, these ...measures pose a societal challenge as they require people to change their customary behaviours in various contexts. The science of habit formation is potentially useful for informing policy-making in public health, but the current literature largely overlooked the role of habit in predicting and explaining these preventive behaviours. Our research aimed to describe habit formation processes of physical distancing and hand washing and to estimate the influences of habit strength and intention on behavioural adherence.
Methods
A longitudinal survey was conducted between July and November 2020 on a representative Dutch sample (n = 800). Respondents reported their intentions, habit strengths, and adherence regarding six context-specific preventive behaviours on a weekly basis. Temporal developments of the measured variables were visualized, quantified, and mapped onto five distinct phases of the pandemic. Regression models were used to test the effects of intention, habit strength, and their interaction on behavioural adherence.
Results
Dutch respondents generally had strong intentions to adhere to all preventive measures and their adherence rates were between 70% and 90%. They also self-reported to experience their behaviours as more automatic over time, and this increasing trend in habit strength was more evident for physical-distancing than for hand washing behaviours. For all six behaviours, both intention and habit strength predicted subsequent adherence (all
ps
< 2e-16). In addition, the predictive power of intention decreased over time and was weaker for respondents with strong habits for physical distancing when visiting supermarkets (
B
= -0.63,
p
<.0001) and having guests at home (
B
= -0.54,
p
<.0001) in the later phases of the study, but not for hand washing.
Conclusions
People’s adaptations to physical-distancing and hand washing measures involve both intentional and habitual processes. For public health management, our findings highlight the importance of using contextual cues to promote habit formation, especially for maintaining physical-distancing practices. For habit theories, our study provides a unique dataset that covers multiple health behaviours in a critical real-world setting.
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