Indulgence, Excess, and Restraint: Perspectives on Consummatory Behavior in Everyday Life

Abstract

A regulatory model of consumption is outlined, with an emphasis on upper and lower regulatory limits which govern consumption. We argue that aversive physiological symptoms counteract failure to maintain consumption within regulatory limits, but that consumption within these limits is affected by various situational and cognitive factors. This model is applied to the consumption of food, alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine, with particular attention to the distinctive features of regulation that pertain to each. Implications are derived regarding the multiple meanings of “excessive”and “insufficient” consumption in this framework. We also discuss the relative (perceived) contributions of physiological and “personal” mechanisms of regulatory control and ensuing effects of self-perception and attribution. Concluding remarks concern the complexities of multiple substance use.