Washington: Self-control is more likely to make you behave aggressively towards others. This is often seen with people on diets, who are prone to irritability and anger, says a new study.
"We set out to examine whether exerting self-control can indeed lead to a wide range of angry behaviour and preferences subsequently..." study authors David Gal of Northwestern University and Wendy Liu of University of California write.
Researchers found that people who exerted self-control were more likely to prefer anger-themed movies, more interested in looking at angry facial expressions and expressed more irritation at a message that tried to convince them to change their exercise habits, Journal of Consumer Research reports.
In one study, people who choose an apple instead of a chocolate bar were more likely to choose movies with anger and revenge themes than milder movies, according to a Northwestern statement.
In another study, participants who exerted financial restraint by choosing a gift certificate for groceries over one for a spa service showed more interest in looking at angry faces rather than at fearful ones.
In a third experiment, dieters had more favourable opinions toward a public policy message that used an anger-framed appeal (if funds are not increased for police training, more criminals will escape prison) than they did toward a sad message.
Finally, participants who chose a healthy snack over a tastier, less-healthy one were more irritated by a marketer's message that included controlling language (words such as "you ought to," "need to," and "must").
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