Trait self-control and the avoidance of temptation

Ent, Michael R.; Baumeister, Roy F.; Tice, Dianne M.

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2014.09.031

Cited by 223 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

123

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, found that people with high trait self-control reported resisting fewer temptations, and Imhoff, Schmidt, and Gerstenberg (2014) found a negative correlation between trait self-control and the frequency with which participants actively engaged in self-control. Taken together with recent findings which suggest that trait self-control might be associated with reduced experience of temptation, rather than increased control of temptation , and related evidence that people who are good at selfcontrol may actively avoid temptation (Ent, Baumeister, & Tice, 2015), these findings call into question the idea that inhibition training should necessarily result in improved self-control outcomes. If the goal of self-control training is to train the abilities and skills that are possessed by people with high levels of self-control, then this goal may be better accomplished by training people to proactively avoid temptation rather than to reactively inhibit temptation.…”

Section: Is Training Inhibition the Right Way To Improve Self-control?mentioning

confidence: 62%

Does self-control improve with practice? Evidence from a six-week training program.

Miles¹,

Sheeran²,

Baird³

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

123

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Can self-control be improved through practice? Several studies have found that repeated practice of tasks involving self-control improves performance on other tasks relevant to selfcontrol. However, in many of these studies, improvements after training could be attributable to methodological factors (e.g., passive control conditions). Moreover, the extent to which the effects of training transfer to real-life settings is not yet clear. In the present research, participants (N = 174) completed a 6-week training program of either cognitive or behavioral self-control tasks. We then tested the effects of practice on a range of measures of self-control, including labbased and real-world tasks. Training was compared to both active and no-contact control conditions. Despite high levels of adherence to the training tasks, there was no effect of training on any measure of self-control. Trained participants did not, for example, show reduced ego depletion effects, become better at overcoming their habits, or report exerting more self-control in everyday life. Moderation analyses found no evidence that training was effective only among particular groups of participants. Bayesian analyses suggested that the data was more consistent with a null effect of training on self-control than with previous estimates of the effect of practice.The implication is that training self-control through repeated practice does not result in generalized improvements in self-control.Keywords: self-control, self-regulation, intervention, ego depletion, self-control training 3 Does Self-Control Improve With Practice? Evidence from a 6-Week Training Program Self-control, or the ability to control thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, seems to be important for success in most areas of life (De Ridder, Lensvelt-Mulders, Finkenauer, Stok, & Baumeister, 2012). During the past 15 years, much of the research into self-control has been inspired by the strength model, which draws the analogy between self-control and a physical muscle (for a review, see Muraven & Baumeister, 2000). This model proposes that, just as using a muscle leads to temporary fatigue, exerting self-control leads to temporary reductions in selfcontrol performance; a phenomenon that has been termed 'ego depletion' (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998). However, the strength model also suggests that if selfcontrol is repeatedly exerted over time (interspersed with periods of rest), then the opposite effect should occur. In other words, just as a muscle grows stronger with exercise, so self-control should improve over time with practice (Muraven, 2010a;Muraven, Baumeister, & Tice, 1999).The ego depletion effect has been the subject of hundreds of empirical tests, extensive analysis of mediating and moderating factors, and much lively theoretical debate (e.g., Hagger, Wood, Stiff, & Chatzisarantis, 2010;Inzlicht & Schmeichel, 2012; Carter, Kofler, Forster, & McCullough, 2015). However, the strength model's predictions about the long-term effects of exerting self-control h...

show abstract

Section: Is Training Inhibition the Right Way To Improve Self-control?mentioning

confidence: 62%

Does self-control improve with practice? Evidence from a six-week training program.

Miles¹,

Sheeran²,

Baird³

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General

123

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…I got into the wrong crowd. It was really hard to get back on track.” While direct empirical evidence on situation selection in adolescent students is lacking, it has recently been established that in adulthood, adults who are more self-controlled report intentionally avoiding situations replete with temptation (Ent, Baumeister, & Tice, 2015; Imhoff, Schmidt, & Gerstenberg, 2013). Relatedly, for drug addicts, encounters with trigger cues are perhaps the strongest predictor of recidivism, and treatment programs invariably advise deliberately avoiding people, places, and objects that induce craving (Bonson et al, 2002; Doyle, Friedmann, & Zywiak, 2013; Goldstein, 1994; Kelley, 2004; O'Brien, 1976; Osgood, Wilson, O'Malley, Bachman, & Johnston, 1996; Schroeder et al, 2001; Weiss, 2005).…”

Section: The Process Model Of Self-controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

A stitch in time: Strategic self-control in high school and college students.

Duckworth¹,

White²,

Matteucci³

et al. 2016

Journal of Educational Psychology

135

121

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A growing body of research indicates that self-control is critical to academic success. Surprisingly little is known, however, about the diverse strategies students use to implement self-control or how well these strategies work. To address these issues, we conducted a naturalistic investigation of self-control strategies (Study 1) and two field experiments (Studies 2 and 3). In Study 1, high school students described the strategies they use to manage interpersonal conflicts, get academic work done, eat healthfully, and manage other everyday self-control challenges. The majority of strategies in these self-nominated incidents as well as in three hypothetical academic scenarios (e.g., studying instead of texting friends) were reliably classified using the process model of self-control. As predicted by the process model, students rated strategies deployed early in the impulse-generation process (situation selection, situation modification) as being dramatically more effective than strategies deployed later (attentional deployment, cognitive change, response modulation). In Study 2, high school students randomly assigned to implement situation modification were more likely to meet their academic goals during the following week than students assigned either to implement response modulation or no strategy at all. In Study 3, college students randomly assigned to implement situation modification were also more successful in meeting their academic goals, and this effect was partially mediated by decreased feelings of temptation throughout the week. Collectively, these findings suggest that students might benefit from learning to initiate self-control when their impulses are still nascent.

show abstract

“…Managing temptation represents an aspect of self-regulation (Ent, Baumeister, & Tice, 2015), which refers to psychological and behavioral processes that individuals utilize while actively pursuing goals, including health-related goals such as dietary modification and weight loss (Hall & Marteau, 2014; Mann, de Ridder, & Fujita, 2013; Rasmussen, Wrosch, Scheier, & Carver, 2006). Successful self-regulation, in turn, heavily depends on executive functions (Barkley, 2001; Hofmann, Schmeichel, & Baddeley, 2012), which are high-level, top-down cognitive processes that are critical for overriding “automatic” or default actions (Mesulam, 2002) and maintaining goal-directed behavior (Miller & Cohen, 2001).…”

Section: The Role Of Executive Functions In Temptation Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing temptation in obesity treatment: A neurobehavioral model of intervention strategies

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Weight loss outcomes in lifestyle interventions for obesity are primarily a function of sustained adherence to a reduced-energy diet, and most lapses in diet adherence are precipitated by temptation from palatable food. The high nonresponse and relapse rates of lifestyle interventions suggest that current temptation management approaches may be insufficient for most participants. In this conceptual review, we discuss three neurobehavioral processes (attentional bias, temporal discounting, and the cold-hot empathy gap) that emerge during temptation and contribute to lapses in diet adherence. Characterizing the neurobehavioral profile of temptation highlights an important distinction between temptation resistance strategies aimed at overcoming temptation while it is experienced, and temptation prevention strategies that seek to avoid or minimize exposure to tempting stimuli. Many temptation resistance and temptation prevention strategies heavily rely on executive functions mediated by prefrontal systems that are prone to disruption by common occurrences such as stress, insufficient sleep, and even exposure to tempting stimuli. In contrast, commitment strategies are a set of devices that enable individuals to manage temptation by constraining their future choices, without placing heavy demands on executive functions. These concepts are synthesized in a conceptual model that categorizes temptation management approaches based on their intended effects on reward processing and degree of reliance on executive functions. We conclude by discussing the implications of our model for strengthening temptation management approaches in future lifestyle interventions, tailoring these approaches based on key individual difference variables, and suggesting high-priority topics for future research.

show abstract

Trait self-control and the avoidance of temptation

Cited by 223 publications

References 13 publications

Does self-control improve with practice? Evidence from a six-week training program.

Does self-control improve with practice? Evidence from a six-week training program.

A stitch in time: Strategic self-control in high school and college students.

Managing temptation in obesity treatment: A neurobehavioral model of intervention strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About