Complex ambivalence refers to situations in which high-valued temporally extended and abstract patterns of acts (such as healthy behavior) are opposed to high-valued particular acts (such as smoking a cigarette). In such situations, a self-controlled act differs from an impulsive act not by virtue of the source of control (inside versus outside the organism) but by virtue of the temporal extent of the contingencies controlling the behavior (extended versus constricted contingencies). Soft commitment is another name for patterning behavior over time so that it may come into contact with temporally distant or extended contingencies. Behavioral methods of establishing self-control typically target particular impulsive acts. The present article suggests that self-control in situations of complex ambivalence also may be achieved by focusing not on reducing the impulsive act itself but on the establishment of patterns (soft commitment) so that behavior comes into contact with the extended contingencies. As an illustration of how this may be accomplished, a specific self-control program is outlined for smoking.
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