Dieting, and keeping to your commitments, are both socially rewarded. This thought, the image of others’ disapproval if you fail to diet, is mentally present even when one is alone. People judge themselves by their society’s standards. So it’s a social pressure mediated by psychological effects (memory and imagination).
I agree on the “pressure” part. However, the pressure need not be social, unless you count every action as mediated by societal influences. True enough, dieting is often driven by societal pressure, maybe the pizza example was not so great, but there are many other pressures people exert on themselves. Are you saying that breaking under internal pressures don’t result in the “what-the-hell” reaction?
Sorry, I was focusing on the dieting example too much. Social pressure is just one kind related to dieting, and it’s probably not directly related to the “what the hell” pattern itself. I’ll comment on the pattern in a top level comment.
There is not much social about it when it’s just between you and an extra slice of pizza in front of you.
Dieting, and keeping to your commitments, are both socially rewarded. This thought, the image of others’ disapproval if you fail to diet, is mentally present even when one is alone. People judge themselves by their society’s standards. So it’s a social pressure mediated by psychological effects (memory and imagination).
I agree on the “pressure” part. However, the pressure need not be social, unless you count every action as mediated by societal influences. True enough, dieting is often driven by societal pressure, maybe the pizza example was not so great, but there are many other pressures people exert on themselves. Are you saying that breaking under internal pressures don’t result in the “what-the-hell” reaction?
Sorry, I was focusing on the dieting example too much. Social pressure is just one kind related to dieting, and it’s probably not directly related to the “what the hell” pattern itself. I’ll comment on the pattern in a top level comment.
Qiaochu’s explanation could still work on an ev-psych level, though. It makes sense that far mode commitments would tend to be social.