What you need to know about willpower: The psychological science of self-control
Read: Read on Omnivore Read: Read Original date published: 2012-12-01 date read: 2023-07-04 author: description: Willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals. With more self-control would we all eat right, exercise regularly, avoid drugs and alcohol, save for retirement, stop procrastinating, and achieve all sorts of noble goals? tags: psychology favorite habits
Highlights
Lack of willpower isn’t the only reason you might fail to reach your goals. Willpower researcher Roy Baumeister, PhD, a psychologist at Florida State University, describes three necessary components for achieving objectives: First, he says, you need to establish the motivation for change and set a clear goal. Second, you need to monitor your behavior toward that goal. The third component is willpower.🔗
willpower is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals.đź”—
According to most psychological scientists, willpower can be defined as:
- The ability to delay gratification, resisting short-term temptations in order to meet long-term goals
- The capacity to override an unwanted thought, feeling, or impulse
- The ability to employ a “cool” cognitive system of behavior rather than a “hot” emotional system
- Conscious, effortful regulation of the self by the self
- A limited resource capable of being depletedđź”—
Mischel and his colleagues presented a preschooler with a plate of treats such as marshmallows. The child was then told that the researcher had to leave the room for a few minutes, but not before giving the child a simple choice. If the child waited until the researcher returned, she could have two marshmallows. If the child simply couldn’t wait, she could ring a bell and the researcher would come back immediately, but she would be allowed to eat only one marshmallow.🔗
So is willpower a limited resource? Proponents of this idea point to a large and robust body of supporting evidence that has accumulated over the last decade. They argue that factors such as mood and belief may only buffer the effects of willpower depletion in its earliest stages.đź”—
Still, both willpower and the environment play a role in food-related choices. Better understanding of both elements will improve options for individuals and health practitioners wrestling with obesity.đź”—
Subjects who had exerted self-control in the video task were willing to spend considerably more—$30,037, on average, versus $22,789 for participants whose self-control hadn’t been run down.🔗
Those who had previously exerted self-control in a lab exercise reported experiencing more temptation to buy.đź”—
After a year, participants who enrolled in the accounts saved 82% more than customers in a control group who had not opened the special accounts. Eliminating the decision of whether to spend or save helped customers avoid willpower failure.đź”—
It’s not that the poor have less willpower than the rich, experts conclude. Rather, for people living in poverty, every decision—even whether to buy soap—requires self control, and dips into their limited pool of willpower.🔗
children who stared directly at the treat were less likely to resist it than were kids who closed their eyes, turned away, or otherwise distracted themselves.
The “out of sight, out of mind” principle applies to adults, too.🔗
When we face too many temptations, are we destined to fail? Not necessarily. Researchers don’t believe that one’s willpower is ever completely exhausted. Rather, people appear to hold some willpower in reserve, conserved for future demands. The right motivation allows us to tap into those reserves, allowing us to persevere even when our self-control strength has been run down.🔗
High motivation, he concludes, might help overcome weakened willpower—at least to a point.🔗
regularly exerting self-control may improve willpower strength.đź”—
Eating regularly to maintain blood-sugar levels in the brain may help refuel run-down willpower stores.đź”—
making a list of resolutions on New Year’s Eve is the worst possible approach. Being depleted in one area can reduce willpower in other spheres🔗