Self-Regulation of Eating Behavior When Facing a Motivational Dilemma: The Role of Self-Compassion and Coping Planning

Abstract: Many premature deaths and health problems could be prevented by adhering to a healthy diet, however, many people lack the self-regulation needed for maintaining healthy behaviors. Goal-conflicting situations (i.e., when a person needs to decide between one of two conflicting goals) are an obstacle for self-regulation, while coping planning is found to be useful in these situations since it entails creating detailed plans on how to overcome potential barriers. Based on the Justification-based model of self-regulation failure, it was proposed that being highly self- compassionate might enable justifying violation of one’s long-term goal and cause self-regulation failure. Thus, the aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between self-compassion, coping planning and self-regulation of eating behavior in goal conflicting situations among adults. Additionally, the study aimed to investigate the potential moderating role of coping planning in the relationship between self-compassion and self-regulation. In this cross-sectional study, 473 adults (79.4% European) with intention to regulate their dietary behavior completed an online questionnaire measuring self-regulation of eating behavior in goal conflicting situations, self-compassion and coping planning. Both self-compassion (r = .30, p < 0.001) and coping planning (r = .23, p < 0.001) were positively associated with, and predicted higher self-regulation of eating behavior, R2 = .15, F(3, 469) = 27.7, p < .001. No moderation effect of coping planning was found. Findings from the study imply the complexity behind the self-regulatory process.