Product Code Database
Self-control is an aspect of inhibitory control, one of the core executive functions. Executive functions are cognitive processes that are necessary for regulating one's behavior in order to achieve specific .
Defined more independently, self-control is the ability to regulate one's emotions, thoughts, and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. Thought to be like a muscle, acts of self-control expend a limited resource. In the short term, overuse of self-control leads to the depletion of that resource. However, in the long term, the use of self-control can strengthen and improve the ability to control oneself over time.
Self-control is also a key concept in the general theory of crime, a major theory in criminology. The theory was developed by Michael Gottfredson and Travis Hirschi in their book A General Theory of Crime (1990). Gottfredson and Hirschi define self-control as the differentiating tendency of individuals to avoid criminal acts independent of the situations in which they find themselves. Individuals with low self-control tend to be impulsive, inconsiderate towards others, risk takers, short-sighted, and nonverbal oriented. About 70% of the variance in questionnaire data operationalizing one construct of self-control was found to be genetic.
In certain contexts, self-control manifested as other virtues: in frightening situations as courage, or in the face of aggravating situations as good temper.
Christianity may describe the struggle with as a battle between spirit (which is inclined to God) and flesh (which is mired in sin). Jesus, as his crucifixion approached, acknowledged the challenge his disciples faced when he found them sleeping instead of praying, he stated "the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak". Paul the Apostle, in his letter to the Romans, complained, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.... I know that the good does not dwell within me, that is, in my flesh. For the desire to do the good lies close at hand, but not the ability". St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, "As a youth I prayed, 'Give me chastity and continence, but not right away.
The related virtue of temperance, or , has been discussed by philosophers and religious thinkers from Plato and Aristotle to the present day. One of the earliest and most well-known examples of self control as a virtue was Aristotle's virtue of temperance, which concerns having a well-chosen and well-regulated set of desires. The vices associated with Aristotle's temperance are self-indulgence (deficiency) and insensibility (excess). Deficiency or excess is in reference to how much temperance is had, for example, a deficiency of temperance leads to over indulgence, while too much or an excess of temperance leads to insensibility or unreasonable control. Aristotle suggested this analogy: The intemperate person is like a city with bad laws; the person without self-control is like a city that has good laws on the books but that does not enforce them.
Self-control dilemmas occur when long-term goals clash with short-term outcomes. Counteractive Self-Control Theory states that when presented with such a dilemma, we lessen the significance of the instant rewards while momentarily increasing the importance of our overall values. When asked to rate the perceived appeal of different snacks before making a decision, people valued health bars over chocolate bars. However, when asked to do the rankings after having chosen a snack, there was no significant difference of appeal. Further, when college students completed a questionnaire prior to their course registration deadline, they ranked leisure activities as less important and enjoyable than when they filled out the survey after the deadline passed. The stronger and more available the temptation is, the harsher the devaluation will be.
One of the most common self-control dilemmas involves the desire for unhealthy or unneeded food consumption versus the desire to maintain long-term health. An indication of unneeded food could also be over-expenditure on certain types of consumption such as eating away from home. Not knowing how much to spend, or overspending one's budget on eating out, can be a symptom of a lack of self-control.
Experiment participants rated a new snack as significantly less healthy when it was described as very tasty compared to when they heard it was just slightly tasty. Without knowing anything else about a food, the mere suggestion of good taste triggered counteractive self-control and prompted them to devalue the temptation in the name of health. Further, when presented with the strong temptation of one large bowl of chips, participants both perceived the chips to be higher in calories and ate less of them than did participants who faced the weak temptation of three smaller chip bowls, even though both conditions represented the same amount of chips overall.
Weak temptations are falsely perceived to be less unhealthy, so self-control is not triggered and desirable actions are more often engaged in; this supports the counteractive self-control theory. Weak temptations present more of a challenge to overcome than strong temptations, because they appear less likely to compromise long-term values.
Further, when reading a description emphasizing the sweet flavor of their snack, participants with higher trait self-control reported a decrease in desire faster than they did after hearing a description of the healthy benefits of their snack. Once again, those with low self-control satiated at the same rate regardless of the description. Perceived unhealthiness of the food alone, regardless of actual health level, relates to faster satiation, but only for people with high trait self-control.
One technique for inducing high-level construals is asking an individual a series of "why?" questions that lead to increasingly abstracted responses, whereas low-level construals are induced by "how?" questions leading to increasingly concrete answers. When taking an Implicit Association Test, people with induced high-level construals are significantly faster at associating temptations (such as candy bars) with "bad", and healthy choices (such as apples) with "good" than those in the low-level condition. Those with induced higher-level construals also show a significantly increased likelihood of choosing an apple for snack over a candy bar. In a person who is not exercising any conscious or active self-control efforts, temptations can be dampened by merely inducing high-level construals in them. Abstraction of high-level construals may remind people of their large-scale values, such as a healthy lifestyle, which deemphasizes the current tempting situation.
Human self-control research is typically modeled by using a token economy system: a behavioral program in which individuals in a group can earn tokens for a variety of desirable behaviors and can cash in the tokens for various backup, positive reinforcers. The difference in research methodologies with humans using tokens or conditioned reinforcers versus non-humans using sub-primary forces suggested procedural artifacts as a possible suspect. One procedural difference was in the delay in the exchange period: Non-human subjects can and most likely would access their reinforcement immediately; human subjects had to wait for an "exchange period" in which they could exchange their tokens for money, usually at the end of the experiment. When this was done with non-human subjects (pigeons), they responded much like humans in that males showed much less control than females.
Logue, who is discussed more below, points out that in her study on self-control it was boys who responded with less self-control than girls. She says that in adulthood, for the most part, the sexes equalize on their ability to exhibit self-control. This could imply a human's ability to exert more self-control as they mature and become aware of the consequences associated with impulsivity. This suggestion is further examined below.
Most of the research in the field of self-control assumes that self-control is, in general, better than impulsiveness. As a result, almost all research done on this topic is from this standpoint; very rarely is impulsiveness the more adaptive response in experimental design.
Some in the field of developmental psychology think of self-control in a way that takes into account that sometimes impulsiveness is the more adaptive response. In their view, a normal individual should have the capacity to be either impulsive or controlled depending on which is the most adaptive. However, there is comparatively less research conducted along these lines.
Self-control has been theorized to be a measurable variable in humans, although there are many different tests and means of measuring it. In the worst circumstances people with the most self-control and resilience have the best chance of defying the odds they are faced with, such as poverty, bad schooling, unsafe communities, etc. Those at a disadvantage but with high self-control go on to higher education, professional jobs, and psychosocial outcomes, although there is conflicting evidence on health impacts later in adulthood.
The psychological phenomenon known as "John Henryism" posits that when goal-oriented, success-minded people strive ceaselessly in the absence of adequate support and resources, they can—like the eponymous 19th-century folk hero who fell dead of an aneurysm after besting a steam-powered drill in a railroad-spike-driving competition—work themselves to death (or toward it). In the 1980s, socio-epidemiologist Sherman James found that black Americans in North Carolina suffered disproportionately from heart disease and strokes. He suggested "John Henryism" as the cause of this phenomenon.
Philosopher Immanuel Kant, at the beginning of one of his main works, "Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals", mentions the term "Selbstbeherrschung"—self-control—in a way such that it does not play a key role in his account of virtue. He argues instead that qualities such as self-control and moderation of affect and passions are mistakenly taken to be absolutely good (G 4: 394). In his apology of a universal morality, he also saw compassion as a weak and misguided sentiment: "Such benevolence is called soft-heartedness and should not occur at all among human beings", he said of it. In distancing from his previous positions on the matter of self-control, he points out that such qualities can have only instrumental value: they can promote the good will and make its work easier, but they can also have bad effects. To distinguish between morals and self-control, Kant mentions the example of the cruel Roman Dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix: despite his maxims being morally incorrect, Sulla had self-control because he steadfastly followed those maxims (A 7: 293). Sulla lacks the two levels of moral self-control that are constitutive of virtue (our ability to adopt moral maxims, abstracted from sense impressions; and our ability to follow these maxims). His lack of virtue is primarily explained by his failure to compel himself to adopt moral maxims. According to Kant, self-control is merely a kind of instrument for following already-adopted maxims. As a result, even when closer attention is paid to self-control, its role in adopting morally correct maxims remains neglected in .
A common theme among studies of desire is an investigation of the underlying cognitive processes of a craving for an addictive drugs, such as nicotine or alcohol. In order to better understand the cognitive processes involved, the Elaborated Intrusion (EI) theory of craving was developed. According to EI, craving persists because individuals develop mental images of the coveted substance that are themselves pleasurable, but which also increase their awareness of deficit. The result is a cruel circle of desire, imagery, and preparation to satisfy the desire. This quickly escalates into greater expression of the imagery that incorporates working memory, interferes with performance on simultaneous cognitive tasks, and strengthens the emotional response. Essentially the mind is consumed by the craving for a desired substance, and this craving in turn interrupts any concurrent cognitive tasks. A craving for nicotine or alcohol is an extreme case, but EI theory also applies to more ordinary motivations and desires.
One may manipulate one's own behavior by affecting states of deprivation or satiation. By skipping a meal before a free dinner one may more effectively capitalize on the free meal. By eating a healthy snack beforehand the temptation to eat free "junk food" is reduced.
Imagery is important in desire cognition during a state of deprivation. One study divided smokers into two groups: The control group was instructed to continue smoking as usual until they arrived at the laboratory, where they were then asked to read a multisensory neutral script (one not related to a craving for nicotine). The experimental group, however, was asked to abstain from smoking before coming to the laboratory in order to induce craving, and upon their arrival were told to read a multisensory urge-induction script intended to intensify their nicotine craving. After the participants finished reading the script they rated their craving for cigarettes. Next they formulated visual or auditory images when prompted with verbal cues such as "a game of tennis" or "a telephone ringing". After this task the participants again rated their craving for cigarettes. The study found that the craving experienced by the abstaining smokers was decreased to the control group's level by visual imagery but not by auditory imagery alone. That mental imagery served to reduce the level of craving in smokers suggests that it can be used as a method of self-control during times of deprivation.
To analyze the possible effects of the cognitive transformation of an object on desire, a study was conducted on 71 undergraduate students, all of whom were familiar with a particular chocolate product. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the control condition, the consummatory condition, and the non-consummatory transformation condition. Each group was then given three minutes to complete their assigned task. The participants in the control condition were told to read a neutral article, about a location in South America, that was devoid of any words associated with food consumption. Those in the consummatory condition were instructed to imagine as clearly as possible how consuming the chocolate would taste and feel. The participants in the non-consummatory transformation condition were told to imagine as clearly as possible odd settings or uses for the chocolate. Next, all the participants underwent a manipulation task that required them to rate their mood on a five-point scale in response to ten items they viewed. Following the manipulation task, participants completed automatic evaluations that measured their reaction time to six different images of the chocolate, each of which was paired with a positive or a negative stimuli. The results showed that the participants instructed to imagine the consumption of the chocolate demonstrated higher automatic evaluations toward the chocolate than did the participants told to imagine odd settings or uses for the chocolate, and participants in the control condition fell in-between the two experimental conditions. This indicates that the manner in which one considers an item influences how much it is desired.
Therapeutic (relatively low) doses of psychostimulants, such as methylphenidate and amphetamine, improve performance on working memory tasks both in normal subjects and those with ADHD. ... stimulants act not only on working memory function, but also on general levels of arousal and, within the nucleus accumbens, improve the saliency of tasks. Thus, stimulants improve performance on effortful but tedious tasks ... through indirect stimulation of dopamine and norepinephrine receptors. ...
Beyond these general permissive effects, dopamine (acting via D1 receptors) and norepinephrine (acting at several receptors) can, at optimal levels, enhance working memory and aspects of attention.
Punishment is more like conformity than self-control because with self-control there needs to be an internal drive, not an external source of punishment, that makes the person want to do something. With a learning system of punishment the person does not make their decision based upon what they want, rather they base it on the additional external factors. When you use a negative reinforcement you are more likely to influence their internal decisions and allow them to make the choice on their own whereas with a punishment the person will make their decisions based upon the consequences rather than exerting self-control. The best way to learn self-control is with "free will" in which people perceive they are making their own choices.
Many researchers work on identifying the brain areas involved in the exertion of self-control. Many different areas are known to be involved. In relation to self-control mechanisms, the reward centers in the brain compare external stimuli versus internal need states and a person's learning history. At the biological level, a loss of control is thought to be caused by a malfunctioning of a decision mechanism.
Much of the work on how the brain makes decisions is based on evidence from perceptual learning combined with neuroimaging where it has been found that the pre-frontal cortex has a major impact on how people make choices.
Subjects are often tested on tasks that are not typically associated with self-control, but are more general decision tasks. Nevertheless, the research on self-control is informed by such research. Sources for evidence on the neural mechanisms of self-control include fMRI studies on human subjects, neural recordings on animals, lesion studies on humans and animals, and clinical behavioral studies on humans with self-control disorders.
There is broad agreement that Cerebral cortex is involved in self-control, specifically the pre-frontal cortex. A mechanistic account of self-control could have tremendous explanatory value and clinical application. What follows is a survey of some important literature on the brain regions involved in self-control.
Todd A. Hare et al. use functional MRI techniques to show that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) are crucial to the exertion of self-control. They found the vmPFC encoded the value placed on pleasurable, but ultimately self defeating behavior versus that placed on long-term goals. Another discovery was the fact that the exertion of self-control required the modulation of the vmPFC by the DLPFC. The study found that a lack of self-control was strongly correlated with reduced activity in the DLPFC. Hare's study is especially relevant to the self-control literature because it suggests that an important cause of poor self-control is a defective DLPFC.
Cassandra B. Whyte studied locus of control which is the degree to which people think that they, as opposed to external sources, have control over their outcomes. Results indicated that academic performance was higher among people who think their decisions meaningfully impact their outcomes. These outcomes may be due to the belief that they have options from which to choose from, which facilitates more hopeful decision-making behavior when compared to dependence on externally determined outcomes that require less commitment, effort, or self-control.
An alternative explanation of the limited amounts of glucose that are found is that this depends on the allocation of glucose, not on limited supply of glucose. According to this theory, the brain has sufficient resources of glucose and also has the possibility of delivering the glucose, but the personal priorities and motivations of the individual cause the glucose to be allocated to other sites. this theory has not been tested.
A strategy used in the marshmallow test was to focus on "hot" or "cool" features of an object. The children were encouraged to think about the marshmallow's "cool features" such as its shape and texture, possibly comparing it to a cotton ball or a cloud. The "hot features" of the marshmallow would be its sweet, sticky tastiness. These hot features make it more difficult to delay gratification. By focusing on the cool features, the mind is adverted from the appealing aspects of the marshmallow, and self-control is more plausible.
Years later Mischel reached out to the participants of his study, who were then in their 40s. He found that those who showed less self-control by taking the single marshmallow in the initial study were more likely to develop problems with relationships, stress, and drug abuse later in life. Mischel carried out the experiment again with the same participants in order to see which parts of the brain were active during the process of self-control. The participants received MRI scans to show brain activity. The results showed that those who exhibited lower levels of self-control had higher brain activity in the ventral striatum, the area that deals with positive rewards.
In more recent years, other studies have shown that income status was a much larger influence than any internal factors (i.e., if their family could afford to have breakfast every day, the child would be more likely delay gratification). Another study showed cultural influences also play a role in delayed gratification in the context of the marshmallow test.
Self-control is negatively correlated with sociotropy which in turn is correlated with depression. (1999). 9780805819083, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.. ISBN 9780805819083
However, there is conflicting evidence about whether ego depletion is a real effect; meta-analyses have mostly found no evidence that the effect exists. For more details, see the Ego depletion.
|
|
