Effects of Trait Self-Control on Response Conflict About Healthy and Unhealthy Food

Self-control leads to positive life outcomes, but it is poorly understood. While previous research has focused on self-control failure, self-control success remains unexplored. The current studies aim to shed more light on the mechanisms of self-control by focusing on the resolution of response conflict as a key component in self-control success. Trait self-control was measured, and participants reported on the magnitude of response conflict they experienced about healthy and unhealthy foods in Study 1 (N = 146; M_age  = 33.03; 59 females, 83 males, 4 unknown). The response conflict process was assessed in Study 2 (N = 118; M_age  = 21.45; 68 females, 41 males, 9 unknown). Outcomes showed that self-reported evaluative response conflict about food items was smaller for people high in trait self-control. Study 2 revealed that higher trait self-control predicted faster resolution of self-control conflict, and an earlier peak of the response conflict. Taken together, these results provide insight into what makes people with high trait self-control successful, namely, how they handle response conflict. Implications for self-control theories and future directions are discussed.