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Just when we thought we had worked out the main outlines of self-regulation theory, several new findings have emerged to challenge that picture. Dr. Roy Baumeister, Florida State University, presents results from laboratory, longitudinal, and meta-analytic studies on how high self-control may specialize less in resisting temptation than in avoiding it. Self-control, ego depletion, self-control and other topics are addressed
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New Directions in Self-Regulation Theory
Roy F. Baumeister
Value of Self-Control• Success in work, school• Good relationships• Adjustment, mental health• Physical health• Good behavior (vs. crime, abuse, prejudice)• Longevity• It is difficult to identify any major personal
problems that do not have some element of self-control failure
What is Self-Control?
• Overriding responses– Thoughts, emotions, impulses, performance
• Regulate: Change based on idea (standard)• Vital for human social life (culture)– Participating in large social systems with rules– Working in organized groups/organizations
• Basis for free will
Ego Depletion Theory
• Limited resource• Performance declines as willpower depleted• Linked to blood glucose• Also used for choice, intelligent thought,
initiative– Also non-behavioral functions, such as immune
system
Like a Muscle
• Gets tired after exertion• Conserving energy• Exercise increases strength !– Building character– Stamina
Decision Fatigue:Choosing While Depleted
• Postpone/avoid decision• Less compromise• Default option• Impulse, self-indulge• Irrational bias
Obama recent interview
• “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions. “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.”
Meta-Analysis
• High trait self-control predicts better outcomes
• Strongest with work/school, moderate with relationships & adjustment, weakest with appetitive behaviors (eating, smoking)– Not exactly what we thought self-control was for
• Automatic vs controlled behaviors
De Ridder et al. (2012) Pers. Soc. Psych. Revw.
Offense Not Defense
• Set up life to avoid problems• Note most effective with work & school:
performance maximized by steady habits
Desire and Resistance in Everyday Life
• Experience sampling study• Ten thousand occasions, seven thousand
desires• Strength of desire, conflict, resistance,
execution• Plenty of other measures, traits, situation
Hofmann, Baumeister, Förster, & Vohs (2012) J. Pers. Soc. Psy.
13
Frequency and Percentage Data
Total # of reports: 10,558Total # of desires: 7,843
start
no desire (27%)
desire (73%)
no resistance (62%)
execution (70%)
no execution (30%)
resistance (38%)
execution (17%)
no execution (83%)
Power of Willpower
• Was the desired behavior actually performed?– If no resistance: 70%– If resistance: 17%
• Thus, self-control helped reduce the enactment of desire, from 70% to 17%
Everyday Desire:Extrapolate to 16 Waking Hours
• Desiring something: 8 hours per day• Resisting problematic desires: 3 to 4 hours per
day• Succumbing to previously resisted
temptations: half hour per day
Desire Strength x Conflict
17
Desire Strength x Conflict
3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.00.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
936.00
676.00
210.00
228.00
360.00375.00638.00
169.00
555.00
564.00
464.00234.00
147.00
810.00
Desire Strength
ConflictGrand mean
Grand mean
Extremes on Conflict, Strength
• Strongest desires: sleep, sex• Most conflicted desires: relaxing, leisure, sleep
(and sex)• Least conflicted: tea• Weakest: tobacco, alcohol! – Bad habits, not irresistible urges
High on Trait Self-Control
• Less frequent resistance!• Weaker desires, fewer problem desires• Less guilt– From other work: lower life stress
• Implications: Playing offense, avoiding problems
Hofmann et al. (2012) J. Pers. Soc. Psych.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens_%281891%29.jpg
Ego Depletion in Everyday Life
• More prior resistance leads to more execution now, more yielding to temptation
23
Ego Depletion in Daily Life• Depletion score: sum of previous resistance attempts on same day,
weighted by temporal distance
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 360
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
No resistance Resistance
Depletion score due to previous self-control
Pro
babi
lity
of e
xecu
tion
(pre
sent
des
ire)
Similarity or Complementarity in Relationship Success:
Or, Can Two Undercontrolled Lovers Find Happiness Together?
• 3 Studies of relationship satisfaction• What combination of trait self-control scores
is best? – Low difference (similarity)– High difference (complementarity)
Sum, Not Difference
• The more self-control in both, the better• No sign of similarity effects• Partners showed some complementarity, only
in romantic relationships (mainly dating)– Per self-control, opposites attract
Vohs, Finkenauer, & Baumeister (2011) Soc. & Pers. Psych. Sci.
Uncertainty Causes Depletion?
Study 1: Manipulation
Please complete the equation associated with the color you just saw:Blue: 3 x 5 = Green: 6 x 7 = Yellow: 7 x 9 = Red: 3 x 8 =
Study 1: Measure
• DV Persistence on Unsolvable Tracing Puzzles (Baumeister et al., 1998)
Number of attempts
Uncertain Control0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nu
mb
er o
f A
ttem
pts
Study 2
• Communication and Personality
• Three conditions– Speech– No Speech– Uncertain
• Measure: Solvable Anagrams (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998)
Results: Number Solved
Uncertain Speech No Speech0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Nu
mb
er S
olv
ed
Study 3Mediators & Moderators
• Construal Level
• Time Perception
• Working Memory
• Neuroticism
Study 3: ResultsNumber of errors
Uncertain Speech No Speech0
5
10
15
20
25
Err
ors
on
Op
erat
ion
F(2, 43) = 4.14, p = .02
Mediators, Moderators
No significant differences between conditions inConstrual levelTime Perception
No interaction with neuroticismNo effects for mood, emotion
Glucose Counteracts Depletion
• Sugar Splenda• Uncertain Speech 17.7
11.1
Implications
• Uncertainty is depleting• Can be worse than certainty of bad outcome• Likely mechanism: sustaining multiple
interpretations (and switching among)
Alquist, Baumeister, & Tice (submitted)
Power /Leadership and Self-Regulation
• Leadership position increase indulgence?• Able to take it easy
• Or raise performance regulation?• Increased commitment, loyalty, accountability
• Regulating task performance vs. appetitive desires might be orthogonal
DeWall, Baumeister, Mead, & Vohs (2011) J. Pers. Soc. Psych.
Power, Leadership Summary
• Leaders self-regulate performance more than others– Indulgence and pleasure may be different
• But not if the task is beneath them• Depleted leaders exert regardless of suitability• But then become extra depleted– “Vicious” circle?
DeWall, Baumeister, Mead, & Vohs (2011) J. Pers. Soc. Psych
Depletion “All in your head”?
• Job, Dweck, & Walton (2010) found belief in unlimited willpower prevented ego depletion
• How widespread are such beliefs?• Effects perhaps right at borderline?
Mild vs. Severe Depletion
• Used Job et al. manipulation, inducing belief in limited vs. unlimited willpower
• Zero, two, or four depleting tasks– Choice among products, Stroop, stifle laugh,
override habit to cross e’s• Measured performance on CET
(extrapolation), delay discounting
Vohs, Baumeister, & Schmeichel, JESP, 2012
Not All in Your Head
0 Initial Tasks 2 Initial Tasks 4 Initial Tasks20
22
24
26
28
30
32
34
Limited Willpower
Unlimited Willpower
CE
T s
co
res
Limited Willpower Part 2
0 Initial Tasks 2 Initial Tasks 4 Initial Tasks0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Limited Willpower
Unlimited Willpower
Dela
yed R
ew
ard
Sco
res
Thus
• Willpower is limited• Belief in unlimited willpower can forestall
depletion, but not prevent it• That belief actually makes things worse, when
demands are substantial (when you need it most)
What Depletion Feels Like
Impulse and Restraint
• Self-control is all about restraint• Impulse should be unaffected• Or else: evaluation/executive tradeoff?• Problem of glucose consumption but total
brain caloric use unaffected
Depletion and Emotional Upset
Negative EmotionSuppressed Thoughts 16.8Unconstrained Thought 11.5
Vohs, Baumeister, et al. (submitted)
Evaluations Stronger
• After depletion (Stroop), IAPS positive pictures rated more positively
• And IAPS negative pictures more negatively• After emotionally exaggerated reading,
Chinese characters were rated more extremely in both directions (liked and disliked more)
Behavior: Hand in Ice Water
Time (sec) Pain
Depletion 44.05.84
Not Depleted 62.35.21
Vohs, Baumeister, et al. (submitted)
Urge for Cookie
• Depletion: write about daily routine, without using A or N
• After eating cookie, stronger desire for another
• Depleted also ate more• “Full” mediation
Time Course of Desire
• Depletion by control attention to video• Watch wrapped gift, indicate ongoing desire to
open it• Depletion caused higher desire throughout– Thus effect is not mere delay
• Also: higher peak desire, faster to peak, more “trap time” in high desire states, more reverting to previous, more inertia
Experience Sampling Revisited
• Prior resistance linked to stronger desires (more execution)
Conclusions, Old and New• Self-control helps resist temptation…but also
helps avoid it• Benefits relationships• Uncertainty can be depleting• Many factors can temporarily overcome mild
depletion– Power, motivation, beliefs– But one pays the price later
• Depletion weakens control…but also strengthens desires & feelings
The End