Understanding the setback effect in everyday self‐regulation

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of social psychology 2023-06, Vol.53 (4), p.703-719
Main Authors: ten Broeke, Pam, Adriaanse, Marieke A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
disinhibition
Eating behavior
Efficacy
Emotional regulation
Emotions
intentions
Psychological mechanisms
Recall
Regulation
Retrospective questions
Self control
self‐efficacy
self‐regulation failure
Setbacks
Success
Usefulness
what the hell
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0046-2772
1099-0992
DOI:10.1002/ejsp.2931