Self regulation through motivated perception and mobilization

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Obesity is an epidemic that comes at great social and financial cost. Obesity is the result of, among other factors, failures to self-regulate exercise behaviors. That is, obesity is exacerbated because people experience difficulty sustaining the type and intensity of exercise necessary to experience weight loss and health-gains. Dr. Emily Balcetis (New York University) will conduct NSF-supported research on an interdisciplinary theory referred to as motivated-perception-for-self-regulation that has direct implications for self-regulation failures and their consequences for obesity.The theory of Motivated-Perception-For-Self-Regulation illustrates and four proposed experiments test sequential processes that contribute to self-regulatory success in light of obstacles that threaten goal-pursuit. This theory primarily focuses on one internal obstacle: low physiological potential that results from chronic fatigue, poor fitness, or temporary states of depletion. The theory proposes that motivated visual perception assists in overcoming the obstacle of low potential by mobilizing the body for action. That is, visual biases assist in self-regulation by temporarily increasing energy the body has available for action, a process the theory refers to as motivated mobilization. For instance, the proposed research asks if people who are overweight perceive distances to be longer, hills to be steeper, and ascents to be greater than people in better physical conditions. Alternatively, if motivations to engage in physical activity increase, do people who are committed to losing weight perceive distances to be short even when they are physically taxed? Will these perceptual biases temporarily change perceivers? energy?changes which may improve or impair abilities to engage in the exercise?As a secondary aim, this proposal will test one intervention designed to experimentally induce perceptual bias among at-risk populations. These studies will test whether a focused attentional style (an "eyes on the prize" manipulation, with the prize typically being a finish line) can be used to reduce perceptions of the physical difficulty of an exercise task. This intervention is specifically designed to encourage action that will help promote adherence to exercise goals in at-risk populations who struggle with obesity. By manipulating the scope of visual attention, the research simultaneously tests an intervention and provides direct experimental evidence for the role of visual bias in regulatory success. The proposed theoretical model will transform the understanding of role of psychobiology, social psychology, and cognitive science in successful self-regulation. This interdisciplinary research connects various approaches to test a unifying theory of self-regulation in a way that provides greater explanatory power than other models that more narrowly focus on a single microprocess. The implications of the proposed theory could be far reaching, but will begin within the important domain of exercise. This model has the potential to be transformative theoretically, in addition to providing translational research within the study of the chronic health problem of obesity.