Willpower and the Optimal Control of Visceral Urges

Common intuition and experimental psychology suggest that the ability to self-regulate ("willpower") is a depletable resource. We investigate the behavior of an agent with limited willpower who optimally consumes a fixed endowment of a tempting consumption good or "cake" over time. We assume that restraining consumption of cake below what maximizes immediate gratification requires willpower. Any willpower left over may be valuable in controlling other urges. Willpower thus links otherwise unrelated behaviors requiring self-control. Our model predicts domain-specific time preference and a linkage between expenditure on nontempting goods and the value of self control in regulating other activities. It also shows that short-sighted behavior by the poor may be attributable entirely to their lack of wealth. Unlike someone with perfect self-control, an agent with limited willpower will almost never perfectly smooth his consumption, even when it is feasible to do so. Our model provides an explanation for negative time preference, a phenomenon usually attributed to direct utility from beliefs (anticipation). At the same time, it provides a novel explanation for self-commitment, intertemporal preference reversals, and procrastination.

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