Self-Regulatory Strategy Use, Efficacy, and Strategy-Situation-Fit in Self-Control Conflicts of Initiation, Persistence, and Inhibition

Abstract

Self-control is the ability to (1) “override impulses to act”, (2) “make oneself initiate” and (3) “persist in boring, difficult, or disliked activity” (Carver, 2019, p. 477). We explored the self-regulatory strategies that people use for these three types of self-control conflicts and their subjective efficacy as a function of conflict type. In addition, we hypothesized that people who more frequently create strategy-situation fit by tying strategies to the conflict types they are effective for, are more successful at self-control. A pilot study identified 22 different self-regulatory strategies that could be used for more than one type of self-control conflict. We then used a large data set from two pooled experience sampling datasets (n = 14,067 reported self-control conflicts) to quantify these strategies´ popularity and subjective efficacy in daily life. Eight strategies were positively and three negatively associated with subjective self-regulatory success but subjective efficacy often depended on type of conflict: Some strategies were effective and some maladaptive only for some types of self-control conflicts. Individuals who created strategy-situation fit for some strategies also reported greater self-regulatory success, as hypothesized. We discuss regulatory flexibility as a crucial component of good self-control.

Self-regulatory processes in striving for identity goals: Self-incompleteness shields eco-friendly vegans from temptations.

“…Specifically, the subscale of hedonic success should be related to the preference for aesthetic hedonic dishes, as it captures ability to relax and go astray from focal goal pursuit. Based on recent findings (Wenzel et al, 2022), self-regulatory strategies and orientations contingent with the different types of self-control conflicts are more effective for goal conflict resolution. Self-regulatory success is a function of individual differences and the situations at hand.…”

Metacognition and self-control: An integrative framework.

“…Several studies have shown that people do indeed spontaneously use a variety of different strategies in their everyday lives and that many strategies can be effective (Bürgler et al, 2021;Hennecke & Bürgler, 2020;Hennecke et al, 2019;Lopez et al, 2021;Milyavskaya et al, 2020;Wenzel et al, 2022). People also frequently use multiple strategies within a single self-control conflict.…”