Overconfidence 'leads people into temptation'

Overconfidence leads people into temptation, but those who think that they are vulnerable to it are least likely to give in as they

are more vigilant, a new study says.

Researchers at Northwestern University have confirmed this while looking at the importance of "restraint bias" that is the way people miscalculate how much temptation they could handle, the 'New Scientist' reported.

"People with the most confidence were the most likely to fail. We don't appreciate how powerful temptation can be and our brains may prime us for addiction. Avoiding temptation altogether is the only way to stay out of trouble," according to lead researcher Loran Nordgren.

They have based their findings on an analysis of an experiment, involving 53 smokers, who were asked to undergo a battery of tests.

The first test was bogus and used only to sort them randomly into two groups. Members of one group were then told they had a "high capacity for impulse control", while others were labelled "low".