Self Regulation Self Control Willpower 3 ingredients of self regulation 1 Capacity strength mental resources 2 Monitoring self awareness 3 Standards goals Benefits of Self Regulation Walter marshmallow mischel Study o Gave 4 year olds marshmallows o Delay of gratification o Self control get 2 later o Self control failure only 1 now o On average the one marshmallow kids scored 210 pts lower on the SAT A High Capacity for Self Control Predicts o Stable relationships happier less breakups stronger platonic relationships o More success more money education promotions etc Academic success is better predicted by self control capacity than IQ o Less criminality o Better mental health and longer life Self Regulation Failure is a Common Problem Limited resource model All types of control rely on ONE limited energy source o Behavior control o Thought control o Emotion control o Impulse control Doing this Makes it difficult to Doing this Suppressing thoughts about a topic ex don t think of a white bear Squeeze a handgrip for a long amount of time Suppressing emotional reactions to a movie cute sea turtles being hatched and then birds come and eat them one group told to watch it and let the emotions pour out and then another group told to watch it and not feel any emotion Makes it difficult to Solve difficult word problems Doing this Resisting chocolate and eating radishes Makes it difficult to Persist in attempting unsolvable puzzles Limited Resource Model 1 Self regulation is a fight between the automatic and the controlled a Automatic I want that damn COOKIE b Controlled I have to stick to my diet 2 Fight between impulse and control a This is often a losing battle b Winning the battle drains us of an important resource necessary to keep fighting 3 Self regulation is like a muscle a Depletion b Strength c Only have a limited resource amount of it 4 Note an Important Distinction Here a Automatic behaviors do not require ANY self control b Conscious controlled behaviors require self control 5 Depletion will only affect controlled behaviors 6 Implications for how we might pursue goals that require lots of self regulation a Ex dieting and quitting smoking at the same time People have limited attention Becoming Distracted from Goals People can only actively regulate one thing at a time Wouldn t necessarily be a problem except for the fact that we are very very easily distracted People automatically attend to the stimuli in their environments And these stimuli can distract from self regulation and goal pursuit o Talking on the phone with the TV on o Study for an exam when you have a paper due in a different class Unfulfilled Motivations Distract The Zeigarnik Effect o Servers tables Like songs on the radio Mind wandering and rumination o People automatically think about things that they need to do Zeigarnik Effect is generally helpful it reminds you that you need to write that paper study for that exam etc Can interfere when working with multiple goals Multiple Goals can be Distracting Had participants work on 2 tasks sequentially o Some P s reminded of 1st tak subliminally while working on the 2nd task o Other P s shown unrelated cues P s reminded of 1st task did worse Wavering Commitment People Often Give up Too Easily Commitment can easily waiver What the heck effect Eating among dieters o Two groups of participants Ps Dieter or not o Three Conditions 1 eat nothing hungry 2 drink a milkshake full 3 2 milkshakes stuffed o DV Taste Test w ice cream or cookies Results of Taste Test Non dieters ate the most if they were hungry then second most if full and third most if stuffed Dieters ate the most if they were stuffed second most if full and third most if hungry People who have been self regulating and working toward this diet for a really long time who get stuffed feel like they have failed already and just ate cookies til it hurt o Lowers cognitive functioning o Lowers inhibitory system o Decreased self awareness o Depletes blood glucose levels physiological aspect What the heck Effect Alcohol is the worst for self regulation Alcohol contributes to losing control Affects self reg in three ways Obstacles to Successful Self Regulation Relies on limited resources Rlies on limited attentional focus Often commitment wavers Improving Self Regulation Goal Setting Be realistic Be specific o Intentions alone are not enough o Implementation intentions Gollwitzer When where and how o Twice as likely to engage the desired behavior o Eliminates the Zeigarnik Effect consider it done effect Good Environment Remove distractions Eliminate reminders of other goals Other people can help o Or hurt depending on expectations Ways to Regulate Better 1 Strive for Delayed Gratification build self control over time 2 Avoid alcohol when you want to regulate lowers blood glucose some self reg capacity is built on blood glucose levels 3 Make behavior automatic self regulation is only required for the things that aren t automatic The more you perform a behavior the more automatic it becomes So set a schedule and stick to it e g studying exercising Social Cognition The processes by which people think about and make sense of their environment Tradition of Humans as Rational reason is man s basic means of survival Ayn Rand E g advancements in science tefhnology Behavioral economics based on self interest what s in their best interest We are not rational unbiased information consumers Reason is costly in cog terms it depletes our self control o Making simple day to day decisions depletes our self control We have limited cognitive resources to o Solve problems o Direct attention and behavior People are cognitive misers o Conserve cog resources as much as possible o People want to conserve mental resources Heuristics mental shortcuts Efficient strategy for solving problems or answering questions Provides a good enough answer most of the time Prone to certain types of errors Biases use certain types of information Attend to particular kinds of info Too effortful to try to process all info We respond not to reality as it is but to reality as we construe it Our reality is constructed by our BIASED o Perceptions o Judgments o Explanations o Expectations Heuristics Representativeness heuristic Our mind will often fill in the gaps based on past experiences our brain fills things in in a way that makes sense which is consistent with our pas o Ex Dick is a 30 year old man who enjoys chess classical music and wine What is the
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