The “Response-to-Failure” Scale: Predicting Behavior following Initial Self-Control Failure

Abstract

Whereas most existing self-control research and scales focus on singular self-control choice, the current work examines sequential self-control behavior. Specifically, this research focuses on behavior following initial self-control failure, identifying a set of key cognitive and emotional responses to initial failure that jointly underlie post-failure behavior. The tendency to experience these responses is captured in a new scale, the Response-to-Failure scale, which the authors develop and test in three consumer domains: eating, spending, and cheating. The results support the use of the same emotional and cognitive factors to predict post-failure behavior across these three domains, providing evidence of the generalizability of the scale structure. The data support the scale's structure, nomological and discriminant validity, and test–retest reliability across five studies. In five additional studies, the scale's predictive validity is demonstrated beyond other existing relevant scales. The authors also develop and test a short form of each domain scale. Finally, the authors discuss the implications for understanding post-failure behavior and suggest practical uses for the scale.

The effects of anticipated goal‐inconsistent behavior on present goal choices

“…This increase will not occur for consumers with low response‐to‐failure scores, because these consumers’ chronic cognitive and emotional response tendencies do not lead them to enact the what‐the‐hell effect (Zemack‐Rugar et al., ). Furthermore, this increase (i.e., the what‐the‐hell effect) will not occur when the future is perceived as changeable, because consumers’ chronic responses will not be evoked when future goal‐inconsistent behavior is imagined away.…”

“…This individual difference is captured by the response‐to‐failure scale. Consumers who score high (but not low) on the response‐to‐failure scale increase present goal‐ in consistent choices following past goal‐inconsistent behavior (Zemack‐Rugar, Corus, & Brinberg, ). We argue that similarly, when future goal‐inconsistent behavior is accepted as a matter of fact, some consumers may increase present goal‐inconsistent choices.…”

Hedonic Eating Goals and Emotion: When Sadness Decreases the Desire to Indulge

“…How consumers respond to self-control lapses may also prove to be an important individual difference factor to consider (Laran and Janiszewski 2011;Zemack-Rugar, Corus, and Brinberg 2012). Consumers who tend to regroup following a self-control lapse could exhibit a stronger losspreventing response because they are more in touch with the benefits of avoiding indulgent consumption.…”

Mensuração de Atitude: Proposição de um Protocolo de Elaboração de Escalas

“…No entanto prever com antecedência e observar a confirmação são tarefas mais árduas para as quais se necessita maior conhecimento teórico, embora resultem em maior precisão do estudo (Zemack-Rugar, Corus, & Brinberg, 2012).…”

“…Os relacionamentos nomológicos, como exemplificado por Zemack-Rugar et al (2012), são sistemas fechados de leis que constituem a teoria relacionada ao Construto estudado e às predições feitas sobre o mesmo, as propriedades observáveis dos Construtos envolvidos e os próprios Construtos.…”