New Directions in Self-Regulation Theory

Roy F. Baumeister

Value of Self-Control• Success in work, school• Good relationships• Adjustment, mental health• Physical health• Good behavior (vs. crime, abuse, prejudice)• Longevity• It is difficult to identify any major personal

problems that do not have some element of self-control failure

What is Self-Control?

• Overriding responses– Thoughts, emotions, impulses, performance

• Regulate: Change based on idea (standard)• Vital for human social life (culture)– Participating in large social systems with rules– Working in organized groups/organizations

• Basis for free will

Ego Depletion Theory

• Limited resource• Performance declines as willpower depleted• Linked to blood glucose• Also used for choice, intelligent thought,

initiative– Also non-behavioral functions, such as immune

system

Like a Muscle

• Gets tired after exertion• Conserving energy• Exercise increases strength !– Building character– Stamina

Decision Fatigue:Choosing While Depleted

• Postpone/avoid decision• Less compromise• Default option• Impulse, self-indulge• Irrational bias

Obama recent interview

• “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” He mentioned research that shows the simple act of making decisions degrades one’s ability to make further decisions. “You need to focus your decision-making energy. You need to routinize yourself. You can’t be going through the day distracted by trivia.”

Meta-Analysis

• High trait self-control predicts better outcomes

• Strongest with work/school, moderate with relationships & adjustment, weakest with appetitive behaviors (eating, smoking)– Not exactly what we thought self-control was for

• Automatic vs controlled behaviors

De Ridder et al. (2012) Pers. Soc. Psych. Revw.

Offense Not Defense

• Set up life to avoid problems• Note most effective with work & school:

performance maximized by steady habits

Desire and Resistance in Everyday Life

• Experience sampling study• Ten thousand occasions, seven thousand

desires• Strength of desire, conflict, resistance,

execution• Plenty of other measures, traits, situation

Hofmann, Baumeister, Förster, & Vohs (2012) J. Pers. Soc. Psy.

13

Frequency and Percentage Data

Total # of reports: 10,558Total # of desires: 7,843

start

no desire (27%)

desire (73%)

no resistance (62%)

execution (70%)

no execution (30%)

resistance (38%)

execution (17%)

no execution (83%)

Power of Willpower

• Was the desired behavior actually performed?– If no resistance: 70%– If resistance: 17%

• Thus, self-control helped reduce the enactment of desire, from 70% to 17%

Everyday Desire:Extrapolate to 16 Waking Hours

• Desiring something: 8 hours per day• Resisting problematic desires: 3 to 4 hours per

day• Succumbing to previously resisted

temptations: half hour per day

Desire Strength x Conflict

17

Desire Strength x Conflict

3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.00.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

936.00

676.00

210.00

228.00

360.00375.00638.00

169.00

555.00

564.00

464.00234.00

147.00

810.00

Desire Strength

ConflictGrand mean

Grand mean

Extremes on Conflict, Strength

• Strongest desires: sleep, sex• Most conflicted desires: relaxing, leisure, sleep

(and sex)• Least conflicted: tea• Weakest: tobacco, alcohol! – Bad habits, not irresistible urges

High on Trait Self-Control

• Less frequent resistance!• Weaker desires, fewer problem desires• Less guilt– From other work: lower life stress

• Implications: Playing offense, avoiding problems

Hofmann et al. (2012) J. Pers. Soc. Psych.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_William_Waterhouse_Ulysses_and_the_Sirens_%281891%29.jpg

Ego Depletion in Everyday Life

• More prior resistance leads to more execution now, more yielding to temptation

23

Ego Depletion in Daily Life• Depletion score: sum of previous resistance attempts on same day,

weighted by temporal distance

0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 360

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

No resistance Resistance

Depletion score due to previous self-control

Pro

babi

lity

of e

xecu

tion

(pre

sent

des

ire)

Similarity or Complementarity in Relationship Success:

Or, Can Two Undercontrolled Lovers Find Happiness Together?

• 3 Studies of relationship satisfaction• What combination of trait self-control scores

is best? – Low difference (similarity)– High difference (complementarity)

Sum, Not Difference

• The more self-control in both, the better• No sign of similarity effects• Partners showed some complementarity, only

in romantic relationships (mainly dating)– Per self-control, opposites attract

Vohs, Finkenauer, & Baumeister (2011) Soc. & Pers. Psych. Sci.

Uncertainty Causes Depletion?

Study 1: Manipulation

Please complete the equation associated with the color you just saw:Blue: 3 x 5 = Green: 6 x 7 = Yellow: 7 x 9 = Red: 3 x 8 =

Study 1: Measure

• DV Persistence on Unsolvable Tracing Puzzles (Baumeister et al., 1998)

Number of attempts

Uncertain Control0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Nu

mb

er o

f A

ttem

pts

Study 2

• Communication and Personality

• Three conditions– Speech– No Speech– Uncertain

• Measure: Solvable Anagrams (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998)

Results: Number Solved

Uncertain Speech No Speech0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Nu

mb

er S

olv

ed

Study 3Mediators & Moderators

• Construal Level

• Time Perception

• Working Memory

• Neuroticism

Study 3: ResultsNumber of errors

Uncertain Speech No Speech0

5

10

15

20

25

Err

ors

on

Op

erat

ion

F(2, 43) = 4.14, p = .02

Mediators, Moderators

No significant differences between conditions inConstrual levelTime Perception

No interaction with neuroticismNo effects for mood, emotion

Glucose Counteracts Depletion

• Sugar Splenda• Uncertain Speech 17.7

11.1

Implications

• Uncertainty is depleting• Can be worse than certainty of bad outcome• Likely mechanism: sustaining multiple

interpretations (and switching among)

Alquist, Baumeister, & Tice (submitted)

Power /Leadership and Self-Regulation

• Leadership position increase indulgence?• Able to take it easy

• Or raise performance regulation?• Increased commitment, loyalty, accountability

• Regulating task performance vs. appetitive desires might be orthogonal

DeWall, Baumeister, Mead, & Vohs (2011) J. Pers. Soc. Psych.

Power, Leadership Summary

• Leaders self-regulate performance more than others– Indulgence and pleasure may be different

• But not if the task is beneath them• Depleted leaders exert regardless of suitability• But then become extra depleted– “Vicious” circle?

DeWall, Baumeister, Mead, & Vohs (2011) J. Pers. Soc. Psych

Depletion “All in your head”?

• Job, Dweck, & Walton (2010) found belief in unlimited willpower prevented ego depletion

• How widespread are such beliefs?• Effects perhaps right at borderline?

Mild vs. Severe Depletion

• Used Job et al. manipulation, inducing belief in limited vs. unlimited willpower

• Zero, two, or four depleting tasks– Choice among products, Stroop, stifle laugh,

override habit to cross e’s• Measured performance on CET

(extrapolation), delay discounting

Vohs, Baumeister, & Schmeichel, JESP, 2012

Not All in Your Head

0 Initial Tasks 2 Initial Tasks 4 Initial Tasks20

22

24

26

28

30

32

34

Limited Willpower

Unlimited Willpower

CE

T s

co

res

Limited Willpower Part 2

0 Initial Tasks 2 Initial Tasks 4 Initial Tasks0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Limited Willpower

Unlimited Willpower

Dela

yed R

ew

ard

Sco

res

Thus

• Willpower is limited• Belief in unlimited willpower can forestall

depletion, but not prevent it• That belief actually makes things worse, when

demands are substantial (when you need it most)

What Depletion Feels Like

Impulse and Restraint

• Self-control is all about restraint• Impulse should be unaffected• Or else: evaluation/executive tradeoff?• Problem of glucose consumption but total

brain caloric use unaffected

Depletion and Emotional Upset

Negative EmotionSuppressed Thoughts 16.8Unconstrained Thought 11.5

Vohs, Baumeister, et al. (submitted)

Evaluations Stronger

• After depletion (Stroop), IAPS positive pictures rated more positively

• And IAPS negative pictures more negatively• After emotionally exaggerated reading,

Chinese characters were rated more extremely in both directions (liked and disliked more)

Behavior: Hand in Ice Water

Time (sec) Pain

Depletion 44.05.84

Not Depleted 62.35.21

Vohs, Baumeister, et al. (submitted)

Urge for Cookie

• Depletion: write about daily routine, without using A or N

• After eating cookie, stronger desire for another

• Depleted also ate more• “Full” mediation

Time Course of Desire

• Depletion by control attention to video• Watch wrapped gift, indicate ongoing desire to

open it• Depletion caused higher desire throughout– Thus effect is not mere delay

• Also: higher peak desire, faster to peak, more “trap time” in high desire states, more reverting to previous, more inertia

Experience Sampling Revisited

• Prior resistance linked to stronger desires (more execution)

Conclusions, Old and New• Self-control helps resist temptation…but also

helps avoid it• Benefits relationships• Uncertainty can be depleting• Many factors can temporarily overcome mild

depletion– Power, motivation, beliefs– But one pays the price later

• Depletion weakens control…but also strengthens desires & feelings

The End