# ‘Farsighted Impulsivity’ and the New Psychology of Self-Control  ## Metadata - Author:: [[Adam Bulley]] - Full Title:: ‘Farsighted Impulsivity’ and the New Psychology of Self-Control - Category: #articles - URL: https://psyche.co/ideas/far-sighted-impulsivity-and-the-new-psychology-of-self-control?utm_source=Aeon+Newsletter&utm_campaign=f6e316ea78-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_07_04&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-38dd9ec67a-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D ## Highlights > **In his** ***Confessions*****, Saint Augustine** declared he’d been ‘supremely wretched’ in his youth – an immoral and impulsive sinner. Turning to help from the heavens, he prayed to God: ‘Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.’ ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gnt5bsm9m1e7yjhv09b2cc)) > rewards as a form of impulsivity that involves a ‘lack of planning and lack of regard for future consequences’. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gnw4e6kgvb7jd8tt9er1wq)) > To the farsighted go the spoils, or so we’re frequently told. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gnwq11exb8a714n9m32ftc)) > false dichotomy between foresight and impulsivity ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gnx5e3mma7v9nfkv4a5mbt)) > Rather, many supposedly ‘impulsive’ behaviours actually arise from our capacity for long-term thinking ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gnxxcj1an2ftf9kn3k14rj)) > The behavioural economist Ran Kivetz and his colleagues have [shown](https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfiles/3281/remedying_hyperopia.pdf) this kind of ‘farsighted impulsivity’ in action: to avoid future regret at missing out, ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gnz4pts45fsz8q27sfdbah)) > What’s more, Kivetz and his colleagues found that people will even opt to bind themselves to a hedonistic choice – what Kivetz [calls](https://academic.oup.com/jcr/article-abstract/29/2/199/2900259) a ‘pre-commitment’ to indulgence ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gp03mangcb88he4bm349cg)) > People foresee their own reliable tendency to spend money on boring but necessary essentials, such as toothpaste or electricity bills. Pre-committing to indulgence forces us to have a little fun ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gp29qwj0y7qgybfpykbaw8)) > It makes little sense to delay gratification for a reward you can plainly foresee is unlikely (or that you realise you won’t be around to enjoy) ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gp5ngp3xvrv7adzkfft3p5)) > Imagine you’re faced with a choice between some immediate temptation and a larger but delayed payoff: would you rather have $50 now, or $80 that you must wait six months to receive? If you live in a highly uncertain environment or one where people tend not to keep their promises, a farsighted view of this bargain might well lead you to the following conclusion: get what you can now ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gp7amc6m80mvetmytn0f04)) > In a version of the marshmallow test led by the developmental psychologist Celeste Kidd, an experimenter broke a promise to children, aged three to five years, before the test began. Afterwards, the time that the kids were willing to wait for the second treat was slashed by around [75 per cent](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730121/). So ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gpa2adn5b35dgfkhbnbjk7)) > It’s no longer tenable for academics, pundits or self-help gurus to reflexively call it a ‘failure’ when people opt not to delay gratification ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gpd6spaxt8zx3zeyjg5a3e)) > when a person wilfully and knowingly chooses immediate rewards because they don’t trust the promise of a delayed payoff ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h4gpdmn4d1khth0w79g6pp5k))