Decomposing Self-Control (original) (raw)
Related papers
Frontiers in Psychology, 2016
Self-control can be defined as the ability to exert control over ones impulses. Currently, most research in the area relies on self-report. Focusing on attentional control processes involved in self-control, we modified a spatial selective attentional cueing task to test three domains of self-control experimentally in one task using aversive, tempting, and neutral picture-distractors. The aims of the study were (1) to investigate individual differences in the susceptibility to aversive, tempting, and neutral distraction within one paradigm and (2) to test the association of these three self-control domains to conventional measures of self-control including self-report. The final sample consisted of 116 participants. The task required participants to identify target letters "E" or "F" presented at a cued target location while the distractors were presented. Behavioral and eyetracking data were obtained during the performance of the task. High task performance was encouraged via monetary incentives. In addition to the attentional self-control task, self-reported self-control was assessed and participants performed a color Stroop task, an unsolvable anagram task and a delay of gratification task using chocolate sweets. We found that aversion, temptation, and neutral distraction were associated with significantly increased error rates, reaction times and gaze pattern deviations. Overall task performance on our task correlated with self-reported selfcontrol ability. Measures of aversion, temptation, and distraction showed moderate split-half reliability, but did not correlate with each other across participants. Additionally, participants who made a self-controlled decision in the delay of gratification task were less distracted by temptations in our task than participants who made an impulsive choice. Our individual differences analyses suggest that (1) the ability to endure aversion, resist temptations and ignore neutral distractions are independent of each other and (2) these three domains are related to other measures of self-control.
Self-Control: A Function of Knowing When and How to Exercise Restraint
Current Directions in Psychological Science, 2009
To successfully pursue a goal in the face of temptation, an individual must first identify that she faces a self-control conflict. Only then will the individual exercise self-control to promote goal pursuit over indulging in temptation. We propose a new model that distinguishes between the problems of conflict identification and those of conflict resolution. We then review research on the factors that influence conflict identification and those that determine conflict resolution.
Assessing Attention Control in Goal Pursuit: A Component of Dispositional Self-Regulation
Journal of Personality Assessment, 2006
We examined the psychometric properties of the Self-Regulation Scale (SRS; Schwarzer, Diehl, & Schmitz, 1999), a measure of attention control in goal pursuit, in 2 independent studies. Study 1 included young adults (N = 443), whereas Study 2 included young, middle-aged, and older adults (N = 330). In both studies, the SRS showed good internal consistency. In Study 1, the SRS also showed satisfactory test-retest reliability over a 6-week period. We found support for the criterion validity of the SRS in terms of positive correlations with measures of general and domain-specific self-efficacy, proactive coping, and positive affect and in terms of negative correlations with depressive symptoms and negative affect. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that attention control accounted for unique portions of variance in relevant outcome variables above and beyond measures of self-efficacy and proactive coping. Individuals' ability to regulate their thoughts, feelings, and overt actions contributes to psychological health and well-being (Carver & Scheier, 1999). Self-regulatory behavior is complex and involves both dispositional as well as situational components (Carver, 2004). The research we present here focused on a measure to assess one component of dispositional selfregulation, namely, attention control in goal-directed behavior. Attention control is defined as a person's ability to focus his or her attention on a given task, to control and regulate external and internal distractions, and to work toward a desired goal or outcome. As such, attention control is the opposite of impulsive behavior and represents a personality variable that is an integral part of most complex actions and a dispositional component of self-regulation. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND Traditionally there have been two major theoretical approaches to the study of self-regulatory behavior. The process approach emphasizes that self-regulatory actions are processes that extend over time and are linked to individuals' goals. Karoly (1993) described this approach when he proposed the following definition: Self-regulation refers to those processes, internal and/or transactional, that enable an individual to guide his/her goal-directed activities over time and across changing circumstances (contexts). Regulation implies modulation of thought, affect, behavior, or attention via deliberate or automated use of specific mechanisms and supportive metaskills. (p. 25
A temporary deficiency in self-control: Can heightened motivation overcome this effect?
Psychophysiology, 2017
Self-control is important for everyday life and involves behavioral regulation. Self-control requires effort, and when completing two successive self-control tasks, there is typically a temporary drop in performance in the second task. High self-reported motivation and being made self-aware somewhat counteract this effect-with the result that performance in the second task is enhanced. The current study explored the relationship between self-awareness and motivation on sequential self-control task performance. Before employing self-control in an antisaccade task, participants initially applied self-control in an incongruent Stroop task or completed a control task. After the Stroop task, participants unscrambled sentences that primed self-awareness (each started with the word "I") or unscrambled neutral sentences. Motivation was measured after the antisaccade task. Findings revealed that, after exerting self-control in the incongruent Stroop task, motivation predicted erron...
Manipulations of attention enhance self-regulation.
Successful goal-directed behavior requires self-regulation to override competing impulses. Emerging evidence suggests that attention may mediate such acts, but little is known about the specific operations through which attention might influence self-regulation. Here we test this often-implicit assumption by manipulating attention mechanisms in two ways: one controlling the inhibition of inappropriate responses; the other controlling the breadth of attention. Participants significantly improved their performance on a self- regulation task after practice on a response inhibition task (Experiment 1) and after the induction of a broad focus of attention in a visual discrimination task (Experiment 2). We propose that such manipulations enhance self-regulation by engaging mechanisms that enhance the salience of goal-related representations and reduce the activation of competing goal-irrelevant neural representations. By more efficiently resolving conflict among the signals vying to drive behavior, pre-engaging attention may also help to conserve resources needed for continued self-regulation.
Self‐control: limited resources and extensive benefits
WIREs Cognitive Science, 2012
Successful self‐control has many benefits for individuals and society as a whole. Self‐regulation relies on a limited resource. After one act of self‐control, this resource is reduced, thereby impairing future acts of self‐control. Self‐control resources can be managed and conserved for future tasks. Recent research on perceived self‐control (in the self and others), self‐control in interpersonal interactions, and the physiological basis of the limited resource model point to promising areas for future self‐control research. WIREs Cogn Sci 2012, 3:419–423. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1173This article is categorized under: Psychology > Emotion and Motivation
Personality and Social Psychology Review, 2011
Given assertions of the theoretical, empirical, and practical importance of self-control, this meta-analytic study sought to review evidence concerning the relationship between dispositional self-control and behavior. The authors provide a brief overview over prominent theories of self-control, identifying implicit assumptions surrounding the effects of self-control that warrant empirical testing. They report the results of a meta-analysis of 102 studies (total N = 32,648) investigating the behavioral effects of self-control using the Self-Control Scale, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, and the Low Self-Control Scale. A small to medium positive effect of self-control on behavior was found for the three scales. Only the Self-Control Scale allowed for a fine-grained analysis of conceptual moderators of the self-control behavior relation. Specifically, self-control (measured by the Self-Control Scale) related similarly to the performance of desired behaviors and the inhibition of undes...
Current Issues in Personality Psychology
Much research has shown that effortful acts of self-control temporarily impair its subsequent exertion. The aim of our experiment was to examine whether this effect, called ego depletion, is influenced by application of certain strategies that help people to overcome impulses. Another purpose of our research was to investigate the role of self-control as a trait in this area. We focused on amusement regulation because of its importance in everyday life. participants and procedure Participants (N = 90) completed the Self-Control Scale (NAS-50) and were then asked to rate humorous cartoons (Task 1) while inducing the following self-regulatory strategies suggested by the instructions: cognitive change, response inhibition, or none (between-subjects manipulation). Subsequently, participants performed the Stop Signal Task (Task 2). results The results indicate that the depletion effect is absent unless trait self-control is included in the analysis. We observed the interaction between the self-control trait and the effectiveness of the adopted self-regulatory strategy. Participants with poor self-control did not differ in their performance in Task 2, regardless of the adopted strategy. With the increase in the self-control trait, we observed differences in Task 2 that indicated that the cognitive change strategy guarded against depletion in participants with a medium level of self-control. Participants with a high self-control trait level obtained better scores in both regulatory groups, compared to the condition without any strategy. conclusions We discuss these findings in terms of the competing explanations of the 'ego depletion' effect, as well as in terms of the trait versus state approach to self-control.