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Confession and self-control: A prelude to repentance or relapse?
Michael L Lowe1, Kelly L Haws2
1Department of Marketing, Georgia Institute of Technology.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
|October 16, 2018
Summary
Confessing high-guilt mistakes enhances self-control, while confessing low-guilt errors leads to relapse. Guilt levels and self-discrepancy influence future behavior after confession.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Confession is a common human behavior, even for damaging mistakes.
- The impact of confession on subsequent behavior, particularly self-control, is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether confession leads to improved self-control (repentance) or decreased self-control (relapse).
- To examine the role of pre-confession guilt and self-discrepancy in moderating these effects.
Main Methods:
- Five empirical studies were conducted.
- A single-paper meta-analysis was used to confirm findings.
- Self-control failures in consumption were examined.
Main Results:
- Confessing high-guilt transgressions improved subsequent self-control.
- Confessing low-guilt transgressions led to increased relapse.
- Changes in self-discrepancy were identified as a potential driver of behavioral changes post-confession.
Conclusions:
- The effect of confession on self-control is contingent on the level of guilt associated with the transgression.
- Self-discrepancy plays a crucial role in the psychological process linking confession to behavioral outcomes.
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