Impulsive Behavior is Not Bad

Many of you have heard of the triune brain theory in psychology. This typically presents as individuals speaking of the human brain as resembling an onion in which there are layers. One of those layers is reptilian, which is thought to represent all of our impulsive animalistic behavior.?

This theory has long been discredited, but it still runs rampant. If you hear individuals speaking of “the animal self,"? "the reptilian brain,"? or even presenting the brain as having “hot,” immediate, and emotional choices with “cool,” long-term, and rational choices. This is incorrect.?

Delaying gratification by waiting to eat the marshmallows is seen as a "good" result—indicating more willpower—in the famous "marshmallow" studies. The foundation of this research was the Freudian psychodynamic viewpoint, which contrasted hot animalistic drives with cool rational processes. Freudian theory has long been discredited.?

If one views willpower in terms of rational long-term planning versus animalistic desires, it raises the dubious claim that other animals are incapable of delaying gratification because they lack the more recent evolutionary neural structures necessary for such reasoning.?

While some aspects of willpower may be particular to humans, this framing ignores the relationship between human "willpower" and non-human animal decision-making.?

All animals choose between options that involve trade-offs between long-term and short-term benefits.?

Why people behave hedonistically at times and rationally at other times is not the question that needs to be answered. Rather, the question should be, "What are the general principles by which animals evaluate opportunity costs?"

Waiting to eat a second marshmallow is likely to be advantageous in safe environments. However, consuming the one marshmallow right away might be advantageous in situations where rewards are unsure, such as when experimenters are unreliable. Therefore, rather than being a moral failure in which animalistic urges override human reason, impulsivity can be understood as an adaptive response to the contingencies present in an unstable environment.

Humans and animals will typically act in an adaptive way based on their environment. Additionally, they will develop cognitive adaptations that are advantageous. Many of these are learned from their social group.?

For these reasons, I constantly encourage clients to reduce moral judgment of their behaviors. There is no impulsive, hedonistic self and a rational, long-term planning self. There is a reason why you are taking this more short-term decision.?

Typically, this short-term decision is associated with stress and an unstable reward environment. Does your work life feel chaotic? Can you not trust those around you? Then typically most animals, not just humans, will choose to engage in more short-term behaviors - because planning does not appear to be an evolutionarily beneficial behavior.?

The sooner we stop moralizing short-term decisions, the sooner we can actually make real change.?

There is always a good reason for choosing the “bad” choice; the root of this reason is typically found in our biology and socialization.?

If you have followed me for some time, you know that one of my favorite questions to ask my clients is:

What is a good reason that I am doing this?

Ask yourself this when you are engaging in behaviors that you know do not serve your long-term goals. Ask it without judgment. Ask it repeatedly. Then you will uncover the root cause of your behavior.?

Only then can you truly change it.?

Further reading: Your Brain is Not an Onion