Watch for
Putting yourself in tempting situations believing you will resist.
Outcome & SelfBias #123
Restraint Bias
We overestimate our ability to resist temptation.
The tendency to overestimate ones ability to resist temptation or maintain impulse control in high-temptation environments.
Why it matters: Explains why people fail to follow through on diets savings plans and resolutions.
Try this
Remove temptations from your environment rather than relying on willpower.
Real-world example
A person confidently keeps snacks at their desk believing they will only eat one but ends up eating the whole bag.
Key researchers
Loran Nordgren, Erik Dijksterhuis
First described in 2009
Psychological mechanism
Hot-cold empathy gap. When in a cold state (not tempted) people underestimate how much a hot state (temptation) will override their self-control. The motivational force of temptation is invisible from the cold state.
Seminal research
Loran F. Nordgren, Joop van der Pligt, and Frenk van Harreveld (2009), "The restraint bias."
Related Biases
Below is a realistic scenario. Read it, then choose what you would do. The feedback will show whether a cognitive bias influenced your choice — not to judge, but to reveal the pattern in action.
Thought Experiment
This experiment places you in a realistic decision. Your instinctive choice will reveal whether bias is at work.
STEP 1 → ReadSTEP 2 → ChooseSTEP 3 → Reveal
Debrief
The restraint bias shows that willpower is not a character trait you can rely on — it is a state that collapses under temptation. The best strategy is not to strengthen willpower but to design environments that do not require it. Out of sight out of mind.
Sources
Original ResearchNordgren van der Pligt and van Harreveld (2009) — Restraint bias
EducationalAPA Dictionary entry