The current research demonstrates t

The current research demonstrates that temporally separating a consumer’s initialdecision to perform a guilt-inducing action from its actual enactment reduces theguilt felt while acting. This hypothesis follows from the development of a dynamicmodel that unpacks guilt into two distinct components. Initially, one experiencesdecision guilt accompanying the decision to act or the realization that one will act;subsequently, one experiences action guilt while engaging in the guilt-inducing behavior. Four experiments and two pilot studies reveal that introducing a temporal“decision-enactment gap” enables decision guilt to decay in this interim period,which lowers the overall guilt experienced upon acting. In line with the selfregulative function of guilt, decision-enactment gaps also increase indulgent consumption and decrease post-behavior atonement. This decoupling process canthus alleviate guilt that might otherwise detract from experiences, but may comeat a cost to self-control efforts. The authors discuss the theoretical and practicalimplications of these findings.