The psychological science of self-control

Much research has been developed in recent years to explain many facets of willpower. Most researchers who study self-control do so with one obvious goal in mind: how to strengthen willpower? If willpower is truly a limited resource, as research suggests, what can be done to conserve it?

Avoiding temptation is an effective tactic for maintaining self-control. In Walter Mischel’s marshmallow study (in which preschoolers were given the choice between eating one marshmallow immediately or waiting an indefinite amount of time for two marshmallows), children who looked directly at the treat were less likely to eat it. resist that of the children who closed their marshmallow. eyes, averted or otherwise distracted.

The “out of sight, out of mind” principle also applies to adults. A recent study, for example, found that office workers who kept candy in a desk drawer indulged less in treats than when they kept them on their desks in plain sight.

Another useful tactic for improving self-control is a technique that psychologists call “implementation intention.” Usually, these intentions take the form of “if-then” statements that help people plan for situations that might thwart their resolve. For example, someone who monitors their alcohol intake might say to themselves before a party, “If someone offers me a drink, I’ll ask for lime soda.” »

Research with adolescents and adults has shown that implementation intentions improve self-control, even in people whose willpower has been depleted by laboratory tasks. Having a plan in place ahead of time can allow you to make decisions in the moment without having to rely on willpower.

Research suggesting that we possess a limited reservoir of self-control raises a troubling question. When we face too many temptations, are we doomed to failure? Not necessarily. Researchers do not believe that willpower is ever completely exhausted. Rather, people seem to keep some willpower in reserve, saved for future demands. Good motivation allows us to tap into these reserves, allowing us to persevere even when our strength of self-control is depleted.

In a demonstration of this idea, Mark Muraven found that individuals lacking willpower persisted in a self-control task when they were told that they would be paid for their efforts, or that their efforts would benefit others (such as help find a cure). for Alzheimer’s disease). High motivation, he concludes, could help overcome weakened willpower, at least to a certain extent.

Willpower can also be made less vulnerable to exhaustion in the first place. Researchers who study self-control often describe it as being like a muscle that tires from heavy use. But there is another side to the muscle analogy, they say. While muscles become exhausted in the short term through exercise, they are strengthened through regular exercise in the long term. Likewise, regularly exercising self-control can improve willpower.

In one of the first demonstrations of this idea, Muraven and colleagues asked volunteers to follow a two-week diet to track their food intake, improve their mood, or improve their posture. Compared to a control group, participants who exercised self-control by performing the assigned exercises were less vulnerable to willpower exhaustion during follow-up laboratory tests.

In another study, he found that smokers who practiced self-control for two weeks by avoiding sweets or regularly squeezing a handful were more successful in quitting than control subjects who completed two weeks of regular tasks requiring no self-control, like writing. in a newspaper.

Others have also found that flexing your willpower muscles can build self-control over time. Australian scientists Megan Oaten, PhD, and Ken Cheng, PhD, of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, assigned volunteers to a two-month exercise program, a routine that required willpower. After two months, participants who had completed the program performed better on a laboratory measure of self-control than participants who had not been assigned to the exercise program. That’s not all. Subjects also reported smoking less and drinking less alcohol, eating healthier foods, monitoring their spending more carefully, and improving their study habits. Regularly exercising their willpower with physical exercise, it seemed, led to better willpower in almost every area of ​​their lives.

Findings that willpower depletion is linked to glucose levels also suggest a possible cure. Eating regularly to maintain blood sugar levels in the brain can help replenish depleted willpower reserves. (But don’t let the term “sugar” fool you. According to experts, healthy meals without refined sugar are actually better than sweets for keeping blood sugar levels at a balanced level.) Dieters, who aim to maintain their willpower while reducing calories. , might be better off eating small, frequent meals rather than skipping breakfast or lunch.

Studies on willpower depletion also suggest that making a list of New Year’s Eve resolutions is the worst possible approach. Being exhausted in one area can reduce willpower in other areas, so it makes more sense to focus on one goal at a time. In other words, don’t try to quit smoking, adopt a healthy diet, and start a new exercise program at the same time. Taking the goals one at a time is a better approach.

Once a good habit is in place, Baumeister says, you won’t need to use your willpower to maintain the behavior. Eventually, healthy habits will become routine and require no decision-making.

Many questions about the nature of self-control remain unanswered by further research. Still, it seems likely that with clear goals, good self-monitoring, and a little practice, you can train your willpower to remain strong in the face of temptation.

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