Bet You Can't Eat Just One: Hot and Cold Selves and 'Self'-Control

26 Pages Posted: 15 Aug 2015 Last revised: 21 Aug 2015

See all articles by Nicholas Chesterley

Nicholas Chesterley

Nuffield College; Oxford Department of Economics

Date Written: August 20, 2015

Abstract

This paper considers an intrapersonal game between a moderate cold self and a hot self with a higher marginal utility of consumption. Indulging in a tempting good -- eating the first chocolate from a bowl, for example -- induces the hot self and makes further consumption more likely. In equilibrium, sophisticated selves best respond to each other's behaviour by adopting personal rules to avoid inducing the other self: the cold self over-abstains and the hot self over-indulges, explaining cycles of abstinence and binging such as ‘falls off the wagon' that are sometimes observed as well as the strictness of some consumers' personal rules. Multiple equilibria may exist, making expectations about the behaviour of the other self important. A brief lab experiment tests the prediction that indulgence increases the appeal of further consumption, finding that consumers on a diet who eat a piece of chocolate before the experiment consume more during it.

Keywords: Intrapersonal Games, Self-Control, Multiple Selves, Temptation

JEL Classification: D01, D03, C70

Suggested Citation

Chesterley, Nicholas, Bet You Can't Eat Just One: Hot and Cold Selves and 'Self'-Control (August 20, 2015). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2643447 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2643447

Nicholas Chesterley (Contact Author)

Nuffield College ( email )

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Oxford, OX1 1NF
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Oxford Department of Economics ( email )

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