Self control: Intrapersonal aspects

Self control: Intrapersonal aspects

1. WHAT IS THE SELF?

   • Identity is constructed of our SELF CONCEPT (how we describe ourselves e.g. a female, a student etc.) and our SELF-AWARENESS (the link between our body and mind)
     • Functions of having a self: Organisational - important schema which allows us to interpret and recall information (linking things to our self concept makes things easier to remember)
       • Emotional function - compare our ideal self to our actual self when we aspire to do something (e.g. when studying an exam I will switch my phone off to avoid distraction, but I am not currently doing that. We self evaluate and compare elf to others and what they are doing (shows us how well we are doing)
         • Executive - Regulates our behaviour and allows us to make choices and plans for the future.
           • Social - self-esteem is an indicator for our position in society. If it is low, we must try harder and reconnect with our friends. It is incredibly important for our well being and is a threat for social exclusion

2. WHAT IS SELF CONTROL?

   • Our ability to subdue our impulses, emotions, and behaviors in order to achieve longer-term goals (e.g. not seeing friends so you can revise for an exam)
     • Executive function
   • WHY IS SELF CONTROL IMPORTANT?
     • Self-control failure may be 'common core' of a range of societal problems e.g. crime, teenage pregnancy, STD's and domestic violence
       • GAILLOT ET AL (2007)
         • Good self control seems to be linked with better interpersonal relationships, popularity, mental health and coping

3. THE STRENGTH MODEL

   • Baumiester
   • 1) Self-control requires energy or strength
     • 2) This energy is limited and it can be exhausted (e.g. under stress, at certain times of the day)
       • 3) All self-control operations draw on the same resource; thus making effort towards one goal has detrimental effects on other goals (e.g. self control to refrain from an argument, has adverse effects on self-control when studying)
         • 4) Some people have better self control than others (e.g. predictive value of delay of gratification)
           • 5) Self-control is like a muscle. It needs time to recover and also the more you use it, the stronger it is and the more self-control resources you have

4. IMPULSE CONTROL

   • Taste perception study. PP's skipped one meal (not eaten for 3hrs). The lab smelt of fresh cookies and on the table they had a plate of cookies and a plate of radishes.
     • PP's were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions (1 control condition). One condition were told to taste the cookies and report how good they taste. In the 2nd condition they were told to ignore the cookies and taste the radishes and report how good they taste (exert self control). In the control condition there was no food.
       • They their persistence was measured on an unsolvable geometrical tracing task.
         • Found that persistence between cookie and control condition was equal . HOWEVER, those in the radish condition were LESS PERSISTENT and dedicated less time and made less attempts to solve the task.
           • Shows that RESISTING TEMPTATION seems to have psychological costs ('EGO DEPLETION' e.g. giving up more easily)
             • When depleted, people gave up more easily
             • This SUPPORTS the STRENGTH MODEL because it drains a shared resource on self control

5. EMOTION CONTROL

   • Watched a sad film (young woman dying of cancer) and a funny film (Robin Williams clip). PP's were either instructed to try and CONCEAL their emotions or let their EMOTIONS FLOW and not conceal / deny feelings. They then completed an anagram task.
     • Those suppressing their emotions solved less anagrams than PP'S who did not conceal or regulate their emotions
       • Controlling emotions seems to have psychological costs (ego depletion). There was no difference between the type of movies (e.g. sad or funny). However, a very small amount of PP's were used, which may have skewed the statistical significance.

6. BUILDING UP THAT RESOURCE

   • INTERVENTIONS THAT INCREASE SELF-CONTROL
     • Muscle analogy: Muscles become tired after exercise, but in the long run, exercise strengthens them. Is this the same for self-regulation?
       • Evidence for this comes from 1)Physical exercise regime 2) Study habits
     • 1) Physical exercise regime
       • Specifically designed 2 month physical exercise programme lead to better performance at a visual tracking task while ignoring a humorous distractor. Also reduced smoking, alcohol and more studying / housework
     • 2) Study Habits
       • Specifically designed individual study programmes again led to better performance in visual tracking task. Reduced smoking, alcohol use. Healthier diet, more exercise, less TV and better money management

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