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Good self-control is implicated in heightened well-being and good health. For this reason, researchers have tested the hypothesis that self-control can be improved through practice, a phenomenon known as self-control training. The training literature has so far produced mixed evidence for the efficacy of self-control training. To clarify whether self-control training is effective, we reviewed the literature on self-control training and conducted a meta-analysis of 29 published and unpublished experiments. We found a significant, small-to-medium effect of practicing self-control on diverse outcomes including those relevant to health and wellbeing. We discuss putative mechanisms underlying self-control training. Self-control training 3People are constantly at risk of being distracted from obtaining long-term goals by impulses that compel them to do otherwise. People often experience the desire to eat unhealthy foods, drink too much alcohol, forgo tooth flossing, and lie around on the sofa all day. People frequently experience the urge to lash out at obnoxious drivers, irritating coworkers, and family members. Self-control allows people to resist these impulses and act in accordance with long-term goals. Self-control is "the ability to regulate current thoughts, feelings, and behavior to secure future benefits" (de Ridder, Adriaanse, & Fujita, this volume).As the many chapters in this volume highlight, self-control is typically a very positive characteristic to have. People with high levels of dispositional self-control are less likely to be convicted of a crime or addicted to alcohol and drugs (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990;Moffitt et al., 2011). They have better physical health and earn more money than people low in self-control (Moffitt et al., 2011;Schlam, Wilson, Shoda, Mischel, & Ayduk, 2013).People high in dispositional self-control also perform better in school, report less psychopathology, and have higher self-esteem (Tangney, Baumeister, & Boone, 2004).In addition to having direct benefits for the individual, self-control facilitates positive interpersonal interactions that are important for health and well-being. For instance, good self-control is related to higher quality relationships and secure attachment (Tangney et al., 2004). Self-control is also thought to play a critical role in reducing hostility between strangers, family members, and intimate partners (Denson, DeWall, & Finkel, 2012;Finkel et al., 2009;Finkenauer et al., 2015;Tangney et al., 2004). In short, people high in dispositional self-control are better able to adaptively navigate a world in which distraction from one's long-term goals is ubiquitous. This successful navigation enhances health and well-being.

Unemployed benefit recipients are stigmatized and generally perceived negatively in terms of their personality characteristics and employability. The COVID19 economic shock led to rapid public policy responses across the globe to lessen the impact of mass unemployment, potentially shifting community perceptions of individuals who are out of work and rely on government income support. We used a repeated crosssections design to study change in stigma tied to unemployment and benefit receipt in a pre-existing pre-COVID19 sample (n = 260) and a sample collected during COVID19 pandemic (n = 670) by using a vignette-based experiment. Participants rated attributes of characters who were described as being employed, working poor, unemployed or receiving unemployment benefits. The results show that compared to employed characters, unemployed characters were rated substantially less favorably at both time points on their employability and personality traits. The difference in perceptions of the employed and unemployed was, however, attenuated during COVID19 with benefit recipients perceived as more employable and more Conscientious than pre-pandemic. These results add to knowledge about the determinants of welfare stigma highlighting the impact of the global economic and health crisis on perception of others.

The study of community attitudes toward welfare and welfare recipients is an area of increasing interest. This is not only because negative attitudes can lead to stigmatization and discrimination, but because of the relevance of social attitudes to policy decisions. We quantify the attitudes toward welfare in the Australian population using attitude data from a nationally representative survey (N = 3243). Although there was broad support for the social welfare system, negative attitudes are held toward those who receive welfare benefits. Using canonical correlation analysis we identify multivariate associations between welfare attitudes and respondent demographic characteristics. A primary attitudinal dimension of welfare positivity was found amongst those with higher levels of education, life instability, and personal exposure to the welfare system. Other patterns of negative welfare attitudes appeared to be motivated by beliefs that the respondent’s personal circumstances indicate their deservingness. Moreover, a previously unidentified and unconsidered subset of respondents was identified. This group had positive attitudes toward receiving government benefits despite having no recent experience of welfare. They did, however, possess many of the characteristics that frequently lead to welfare receipt. These results provide insights into not only how attitudinal patterns segment across the population, but are of relevance to policy makers considering how to align welfare reform with community attitudes.