Healthy Satiation: The Role of Decreasing Desire in Effective Self-Control

Self-control is typically viewed as a battle between willpower and desire. The authors focus on the desire side of the equation and extol the positive effect of faster satiation that makes unhealthy behaviors less tempting. They demonstrate that consumers higher in trait self-control demonstrate such “healthy” satiation as they satiate faster on unhealthy foods than on healthy foods. In contrast, those with lower self-control fail to consistently show this differential pattern in their satiation rates. This difference for high self-control people can result from faster satiation for unhealthy foods, slower satiation for healthy foods, or both in combination. Moderating and mediating evidence establish that changes in attention to the amount consumed helped account for these effects on the rate of satiation. The resulting differences in satiation influence the ultimate intake of unhealthy foods, underscoring the importance of the contribution made by differential satiation rates to overconsumption and obesity.