The Effects of Behavioral Inhibition: Integrating Internal Cues, Cognition, Behavior, and Affect

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on behavioral inhibition and suggests that repeated attempts to inhibit motivations to act (such as emotion, hunger, thirst, sexual arousal, and drug cravings) involve conflict and have cognitive, affective, and behavioral consequences, many of which are negative. People often have difficulty ignoring motivational guides to behavior, and this often results in emotional distress and maladaptive behavior. Such suppression might produce health problems, negative affect, cognitive disruption, and eventual behavioral excess. These reactions occur whether the inhibited activity involves failure to express emotion, repressive responses to stress, or avoidance of internally motivated activities, such as eating or drinking. Although the exact mechanism underlying these effects is not yet clear, the similarities across behaviors are provocative. Whereas the benefits of suppressing some behaviors that are themselves unhealthy or otherwise costly (such as smoking) might well outweigh the negative effects of attempted inhibition, it appears to be important for the individual to be aware that these costs exist. Without such acknowledgment, society's proscriptions on expressing such motivated behaviors might exacerbate rather than eliminate a multitude of problems.