Here’s a great talk by Roy Baumeister about all the cool research he and others have done on self-control:
Self-control seems to be one of only two human traits that can predict success through a broad range of situations. The other one is IQ. But the good news about self-control is that we can train it, even as grown-ups, while IQ is much harder to increase. (Only recently have attempts to increase people’s fluid intelligence shown some success, but the effects are small, not very robust, and very hard-earned.)
One of the intriguing findings that Baumeister mentions in his talk: effective self-controllers actually show LESS frequent resistance towards desires, less guilt, and lower life stress. Instead, it looks like they have more proactive coping mechanisms, which set in before the desires even show up. In other words, they have learned to avert crises in advance and therefore have to cope with them less.
Interesting also that depletion of willpower (after exercising it) does not come with any particular emotion, but it intensifies emotions in general. This means that it is difficult for us to become aware of that moment when we have depleted our willpower and have stopped to behave at our best. It also means that as we resist temptations, they become stronger, which I’m sure is an experience we’ve all had.
There’s a lot more in the talk, which takes about 40min, and also in the Q&A with the audience afterwards.
by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR