The participants who had been allowed to eat cookies worked on the problem for about 19 minutes. The ones who had been only allowed to eat radishes, those who had to exert self-control to counteract their desire for cookies, persisted at the task for only 8 minutes—less than half the time—before they gave up. The researchers concluded, “Resisting temptation seems to have produced a psychic cost, in the sense that afterward participants were more inclined to give up easily in the face of frustration.” If you’re on a diet, the more times you resist temptation, the more likely you are to fail the
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