Out of Reach and Under Control: Distancing as a Self-Control Strategy.

In a world where they are inundated with potential temptations, how are successful dieters able to resist the urge to give in to unhealthy foods? Four studies suggest distance is one tool that may enable people to forego temptation. People with strong goals to eat healthy preferred to be farther away from unhealthy foods (Study 1a), which was associated with feeling less tempted by and less likely to give in to them (Study 1b). In addition, successful self-regulators with goals to restrict unhealthy eating perceptually represented the distance to unhealthy foods as greater than the distance to healthy foods (Study 2). Moreover, in a week-long food diary study, distancing from temptations helped people make healthier food choices (Study 3). The studies suggest that successful self-regulators' motivations to avoid unhealthy foods are reflected in the way they structure and perceive the world. Distancing may allow people space to make healthier choices.

Keeping the Goal in Sight: Testing the Influence of Narrowed Visual Attention on Physical Activity.

Rates of physical inactivity continue to rise in the United States. With this work, we tested the efficacy of a strategy affecting the scope of visual attention designed to promote walking as a form of exercise. Specifically, we examined the influence of narrowed attention on the frequency (Studies 1a, 1b, and 3) and efficiency (Studies 2 and 4) of physical activity in general (Studies 1 and 2) and within exercise bouts measured across multiple days (Studies 3 and 4). We provide convergent evidence by investigating both individual differences in (Studies 1 and 2) and experimentally manipulated patterns of visual attention orienting (Studies 3 and 4). We discuss implications of attentional strategies for self-regulation and fitness.

In the Eye of the Betrothed: Perceptual Downgrading of Attractive Alternative Romantic Partners.

People in monogamous relationships can experience a conflict when they interact with an attractive individual. They may have a desire to romantically pursue the new person, while wanting to be faithful to their partner. How do people manage the threat that attractive alternatives present to their relationship goals? We suggest that one way people defend their relationships against attractive individuals is by perceiving the individual as less attractive. In two studies, using a novel visual matching paradigm, we found support for a perceptual downgrading effect. People in relationships perceived threatening attractive individuals as less attractive than did single participants. The effect was exacerbated among participants who were highly satisfied with their current relationships. The studies provide evidence for a perceptual bias that emerges to protect long-term goals. We discuss the findings within the context of a broader theory of motivated perception in the service of self-control.

Government instability shifts skin tone representations of and intentions to vote for political candidates.

Does government stability shift the way White and Black Americans represent and make voting decisions about political candidates? Participants judged how representative lightened, darkened, and unaltered photographs were of a racially ambiguous candidate ostensibly running for political office (Studies 1-3). When the governmental system was presented as stable, White participants who shared (vs. did not share) the candidate's political beliefs rated a lightened photo as more representative of the candidate, and Black participants who shared (vs. did not share) the candidate's political beliefs rated a darkened photo as more representative (Studies 1-3). However, under conditions of instability, both Whites and Blacks who shared (vs. did not share) the candidate's political beliefs rated a lightened photo as more representative (Study 3). Representations of (Studies 2 and 3) and actual differences in (Studies 4a and 4b) skin tone predicted intentions to vote for candidates, as a function of government stability and participants' race. Further evidence suggested that system stability shifted the motivations that guided voting decisions (Study 4a and 4b). When the system was stable, the motivation to enhance one's group predicted greater intentions to vote for lighter skinned candidates among Whites, and greater intentions to vote for darker skinned candidates among Blacks. When the system was unstable, however, lacking confidence in the sociopolitical system predicted intentions to vote for lighter skinned candidates among both Whites and Blacks. Implications for political leadership and social perception are discussed.

Task demand not so damning: Improved techniques that mitigate demand in studies that support top-down effects.

Firestone & Scholl's (F&S's) techniques to combat task demand by manipulating expectations and offering alternative cover stories are fundamentally flawed because they introduce new forms of demand. We review five superior techniques to mitigate demand used in confirmatory studies of top-down effects. We encourage researchers to apply the same standards when evaluating evidence on both sides of the debate.

Effects of implementation intentions on anxiety, perceived proximity, and motor performance.

Anxiety leads to exaggerated perceptions of distance, which may impair performance on a physical task. In two studies, we tested one strategy to reduce anxiety and induce perceived proximity to increase performance. We predicted implementation intentions that reduce anxiety would increase perceived visual proximity to goal-relevant targets, which would indirectly improve performance. In two studies, we induced performance anxiety on a physical task. Participants who formed implementation intentions to reduce anxiety perceived goal-relevant targets (e.g., golf hole, dartboard) as physically closer and performed better than both participants without a strategy (Study 1) and participants with only a goal to regulate anxiety (Study 2). Furthermore, perceived proximity improved performance indirectly by increasing subjective task ease (Study 2). Results suggest that implementation intentions can reduce anxiety and lead to perceived proximity of goal-relevant targets, which helps perceivers make progress on goals.

Affective signals of threat increase perceived proximity.

Do stimuli appear to be closer when they are more threatening? We tested people's perceptions of distance to stimuli that they felt were threatening relative to perceptions of stimuli they felt were disgusting or neutral. Two studies demonstrated that stimuli that emitted affective signals of threat (e.g., an aggressive male student) were seen as physically closer than stimuli that emitted affective signals of disgust (e.g., a repulsive male student) or no affective signal. Even after controlling for the direct effects of physiological arousal, object familiarity, and intensity of the negative emotional reaction, we found that threatening stimuli appeared to be physically closer than did disgusting ones (Study 2). These findings highlight the links among biased perception, action regulation, and successful navigation of the environment.

Visual perception and regulatory conflict: motivation and physiology influence distance perception.

Regulatory conflict can emerge when people experience a strong motivation to act on goals but a conflicting inclination to withhold action because physical resources available, or physiological potentials, are low. This study demonstrated that distance perception is biased in ways that theory suggests assists in managing this conflict. Participants estimated the distance to a target location. Individual differences in physiological potential measured via waist-to-hip ratio interacted with manipulated motivational states to predict visual perception. Among people low in physiological potential and likely to experience regulatory conflict, the environment appeared easier to traverse when motivation was strong compared with weak. Among people high in potential and less likely to experience conflict, perception was not predicted by motivational strength. The role of motivated distance perception in self-regulation is discussed.