L12 - Self-Regulation

Question 1

What is self-regulation?

and what are standards?

Answer 1

the self’s ability to alter its own responses, including thoughts, emotions, impulses, and behaviours based on standards
- standards: ideas about how something should or shouldn’t be
- “self-regulation” is often unsed interchangeably with “self-control”

Question 2

What is a self-control dilemma?

Answer 2

conflict between an immediate urge/desire vs. a higher order standard/goal
- i.e., temptation

research suggests that people spend about 5-6 hours per day resisting desires and urges

good self-regulation often involves successfully resolving self-control dilemmas
- i.e., overriding the immediate urge in favour of the standard/goal

Question 3

Describes Mischel’s Marshmallow Test (1988).

(and what did it show?)

benefits of good self-regulation

Answer 3

one of the first measures of self-regulation, specifcally testing children’s ability to delay gratification
- children are presented with the choice of immediately receiving a marshmallow or receiving 2 marshmallows at a later time if they wait

study showed that:
- delaying gratification is difficult
- successful delay of gratification in children depended on the implementation of self-regulation strategies:
– cognitive strategies, like imagining the marshmallow as something else rather than focusing on how yummy it is
– distraction
– not looking at the marshmallow

Question 4

Describe the follow-up on Mischel’s Marshmallow Test.

Answer 4

Mischel and colleagues used children’s ability to delay gratification at age 4 to predict outcomes at age 14-15

children who were better at delaying gratification at age 4:
- did better academically
- had higher SAT scores
– delay of gratification was a better predictor of SAT scores than intelligence at age 4
- showed better social skills

suggests that better self-regulation is associated with better outcomes in adolescence

Question 5

Describe Moffitt et al.’s New Zealand study (2011).

Answer 5

Study: followed a sample of 1000 children from birth to age 32
- measured self-control in children ages 5-6 using observational measures
- assessed physical health, finances, and criminal record at age 32

Results: children with poorer self-control had worse outcomes as adults, controlling for intelligence and SES background
- controlling for intelligence and SES, children with poorer self-control had worse health and more financial problems
- controlling for intelligence and SES, children with poorer self-control were more likely to be single parents and more likely to be convicted of a crime

Question 6

What are the implications of self-regulation?

Answer 6

self-regulation is difficult but research suggests that it leads to many positive outcomes

overall, suggests that good self-regulation is one of the keys to a successful life

Question 7

Explain the TOTE model of self-regulation.

how does self-regulation work?

Answer 7

feedback loop model:
1. Standard: identify what is the desired end state of self-regulation
2. Test: monitor level of discrepancy between the current state and the standard
3. Operate: control/adjust behaviour into the desired direction
4. Test: result of “operate” serves an input for another test
5. Exit: occurs if current state is in line with desired standard

Question 8

What is the process of good self-regulation?

(what does TOTE model highlight?)

HINT: what are the 3 main components to good self-regulation?

Answer 8

TOTE model highlights that there are 3 main components to good self-regulation:
- Standards
- Monitoring (test)
- Willpower/capacity for change (operate)

good self-regulation involves the efficient operation of all 3 of these

difficulties with any one of these 3 components results in difficulties with self-regulation

Question 9

What is the expectancy-value theory?

how to set good standards/goals?

Answer 9

How likely we are to achieve a standard/goal depends on:
- Expectancy: whether we expect that we can accomplish the goal if we attempt it
– more likely to accomplish a goal if we velieve that it is achievable (highlights importance of setting realistic goals)
- Value: how much we value the goal/find it worth doing
– 4 factors that influence value

we are most likely to achieve standards that are high expectancy + high value
- associated with higher motivation

Question 10

What are the factors that foster motivation that influence value?

Answer 10

1. Importance
   – how important do you feel it is to do well on the goal?
2. Intrinsic value
   – to what extent do you want to do the goal for its inherent satisfaction?
   – e.g., practicing an instrument because it’s fun and challenging (vs. out of obligation)
3. Utility
   – how useful do you find the goal for your life? What’s the benefit?
   – often related to how useful a specific task is for the pursuit of other, higher-order goals (e.g., going to bed earlier, so that you’ll be in a better mood/more productive tomorrow)

Question 11

What is the factors that hinder motivation that influences value?

Answer 11

4. Cost
   – what does the goal cost you?
   –time? money? boredom? what other things could you be doing?
   – procrastination is often due to a goal being costly

Question 12

What is the relationship between expectancy and value?

Answer 12

in theory, expectancy and value are separate dimensions
- high value, but low expectancy = hopeless goal
- low value, but high expectancy = easy, but boring goal

but, in reality, highly positively correlated, and negatively correlated with cost
- suggests that they track one another

expectancy and value reinforce each other

Question 13

What do setting good standards/goals imply?

Answer 13

to foster good self-regulation, set good goals

"”good” goals/standards are ones that are:
- achievable and realistic
- valuable to you
– or find a way to frame it as valuable to you

let go of goals that are costly and don’t feel valuable (important, intrinsic, or useful) to you

Question 14

What are factors that interfere with setting good goals?

Answer 14

Lack of or unclear self-knowledge
- interferes with setting realistic standards (issue with expectancy)
- lack of clarity on what stanadrds/goals are important and intrinsically motivating (issue with value)

Perfectionism
- associated with tendency to set unrealistic goal (issue with expectancy)

Self-control dilemma
- increases cost of goal (issue with value)

each of these increase the chance of failing at a goal

Question 15

What is the function of self-awareness?

importance of self-awareness

Answer 15

Self-awareness: the capacity to direct attention to oneself (self-focused attention) and engage in thoughts about oneself

self-awareness, unlike directing attention to other objects/people, automatically leads to a state of comparing the self against salient standards
- i.e., self-awareness automatically triggers self-evaluation
- as a result, increasing self-awareness often leads to behaving in a way consistent with salient standards

Question 16

What is the evidence that self-awareness leads to a better behaviour?

Answer 16

the presence of a mirror stimulates self-awareness
- people use most first-person pronouns when sitting in front of a mirorr than when not sitting in front of a mirror

the presence (vs. absence) of a mirror leads people to:
- work faster and harder on a task when instructed to do so
- behave in more moral ways
- behave less aggressively
- behave in ways that are more consistent with previously stated personal values

suggests that failure to behave in ways consistent with a standard may be due to lack of self-awareness

Question 17

What is the evidence that low self-awareness leads to worse behaviour?

Answer 17

alcohol reduced self-awareness
- when Ps are given alcohol, they use fewer first-person pronouns than Ps who consumed a non-alcoholic drink

in lab settings, Ps that are given alcohol (vs. non-alcohol drink) tend to:
- behave more recklessly
- spend more money
- behave more aggressively

suggests that some of the negative consequences of drinking alcohol may be attributable to people not comparing themselves against important standards

Question 18

Describe Beaman et al.’s Halloween study (1979).

does lack of self-awareness lead to more misbehaviour?

Answer 18

Method: Halloween trick-or-treaters (all children) were told to take only one candy but were left alone with the opportunity to take more
- all wore costumes and masks
– individuated: asked name and wehre they lived
– anonymous: didn’t have to identify themselves
- mirror manipulation:
– mirror in front of bucket full of candy
– no mirror in front of bucket full of candy

Results:
- children who identified themselves AND who saw their reflection obeyed the instructions
– especially older children

Question 19

What does self-awareness imply?

Answer 19

self-awareness is critical for self-regulation
- the process of comparing the self against a standard makes behaviour change possible
- very difficult to regulate something wihtout closely monitoring it

suggests that if you want to achieve a goal, monitor your progress and foster self-awareness

Question 20

What is the ego depletion theory?

willpower

Answer 20

self-control/willpower is a limited and general mental resource

after exerting effort on a task that requires self-control, self-control is impaired such that people will do worse on another task requiring slef-control, even if the tasks are unrelated

Question 21

What is the general ego depletion study methodology?

Answer 21

Ps perform 2 separate, independent tasks that both require self-control/willpower
- tasks are performed one after another

Question 22

Describe Muraven et al.’s study on ego depletion after suppressing emotion (1998).

Does emotion regulation lead to poorer physical stamina?

Answer 22

Method:
- Ps completed a baseline handgrip endurance measure
- watched a sad movie
- experimental manipulation:
– increase emotion: let the movie affect you and express your emotions on your face as much as possible
– decrease emotion: avoid letting the movie affect you and express as little emotion on your face as possible
– no emotion control: no instructions
- handgrip endurance measured again

Results:
- evidence for ego depletion effect
– Ps who had to alter their emotional state had decreased handgrip endurance comapred to people who did not have to control emotions

Question 23

What is the evidence for ego depletion?

Answer 23

Examples of ego depletion reducing performance on second self-control task:
- looking for and crossing out a particular letter in a text leads to reductions in handgrip endurance
- writing an essay about attitudes one doesn’t believe in (cognitive dissonance) reduces persistence on a task
- suppressing forbidden thoughts leads to giving up more quickly on unsolvable anagrams

evidence that ego depletion increases impulsive, disinhibited behaviour:
- spend more money on impulsive purchases
- eating more junk food
- drink more alcoohl
- fewer sexual inhibitions
- more aggressive responses to being provoked

meta-analysis of 600 studies suggests that these findgins are robust and well-replicated

Question 24

Explain how automaticity can act as a moderator for ego depletion.

Answer 24

Mental processes are either automatic or controlled:
- automatic: require few cognitive resources and occur outside of conscious awareness, common for familiar/highly practiced tasks
– e.g., tying your shoes, driving a familiar route
- controlled: require active, conscious attention and effort, involved in learning new skills or complex situations
– e.g., playing a new musical instrument, solving a complex math problem

ego depletion affects controlled processes, but not automatic ones
- e.g., vocabulary performance (automatic) remains intact after ego depletion but logical reaonsing (controlled) is impaired

Question 25

What are the implications of the ego depletion theory?

Answer 25

self-control/willpower is costly in the short term

will power is a general and limited supply
- all types of self-control draw from this one supply
- people tend ot conserve their willpoer unless highly motivated in the moment to expend it

ego depletion explains why people may fail to sometimes achieve their standard/goals

Question 25

Explain how motivation can act as a moderator for ego depletion.

Answer 25

ego depletion can be overcome if people are given an important incentive to do well on the 2nd task
- e.g., told that their performance will help others or paid based on performance on 2nd task
- but usually show even more depleting after this 2nd task

suggests that ego depletion effects reflect conservation of willpower, not a complete absence of willpower
- people are managing a limited energy supply by holding back in the present

Question 25

What is the controversy on the ego depletion theory?

Answer 25

Some researchers ahve argued that the ego depletion effect doesn’t exist or that the effect is very small if it does exist
- 2014 meta-analysis: meta-analysis of 198 studies concluded that the size of ego depletion effect is small and not significantly different from 0
- 2021 study: multi-lab replication study (3531 Ps) of 1-2 ego depletion studies found no reliable effect of ego depletion

But… at least another 2021 multi-site replication ocnducted in 12 labs (1775 Ps) showed a small, but significant effect
- over 600 studies have been published supporting ego depletion effects

Question 26

Why does a controvery on the ego depletion theory exist?

Answer 26

Publication bias for positive results
- when studies do not produce the predicted outcome, they are not published
- leads to only “successful” studies being published resulting in the inflation of an effect

there probably is an effect (intuitive and lots of findings) but have to figure out under what circumstances it exists
- many studies using general ego depletion methodology assume that the 1st and 2nd tasks rely on self-control, rather than explicitly testing this assumption
– need to figure out which tasks do and which tasks do not rely on self-control
- individual differences?
– possible that ego depletion effects are strogner for some people of in some situations, but not others

reliance on lab studies which may not reflect what’s going on in the real world
- field research would help clarify under what circumstances ego depletion exists

Question 27

Do people vary in trait self-control?

Answer 27

People vary in trait self-control
- consistently better able to successfully deal with self-control dilemmas

Question 28

What are the positive effects of trait self-control?

Answer 28

meta-analysis of 93 studies shows that higher trait self-control is associated with:
- better performance at school and work
- sustaining healthy relationships
- less binge-eating (small effect)
- higher overall psychological well-being

Question 29

What is the paradox of trait self-control?

Answer 29

we tend to think that people high on trait self-control are good at effortfully resisting temptation/have more willpower
- when they encounter a self-control dilemma, exert willpower to inhibit undesirable urge and choose to act in accordance with goal

BUT, in everyday life, people high on trait self-control experience fewer self-control dilemmas than low trait self-control people
- report fewer experiences of temptation in everyday life
- suggests that they’re hardly using effortful self-control

Question 30

Why do high trait self-control people experience less temptation?

Answer 30

1. better at setting goals that are intrinsically rewarding
   – e.g., actually enjoy activities that many struggle with like eating healthy, exercising, studying
2. rely on routines and habits
   – e.g., consistent exercise routine, consistent study schedule
3. structure their lives in such a way that they don’t experience temptation
   –. e.g., make a point of not walking by a bakery on the way to school
4. identify self-control dilemmas (temptation) earlier

Question 31

Describe Gillebaart et al.’s study on identifying self-control dilemmas (2016).

how do high trait self-control people react to self-control dilemmas?

Answer 31

Method: Ps presented with pictures of food on a computer and had to click with mouse to decide if positive (healthy) or negative (unhealthy)

measured:
- trait self-control
- reaction time (RT) to select an answer
- implicit self-control dilemma
– mouse trajectory from the bottom of the screen to select an answer
– implicit intensity of dilemma = degree of “pull” indirection of answer not selected
– also assessed when the “peak pull” occured
- explicit self-control dilemma
– “How conflicted do you feel about your answer?”

Results: trait self-control…
- predicted weaker feelings of conflict (explicit self-control dilemma)
- BUT not related to average degree of “pull”
– suggests that high and low trait self-control people experience same amount of temptation on an unconscious level
- predicted earlier “peak pull”
– suggests that high trait self-control people detected self-control dilemma earlier
- predicted faster RT for correctly classifying food (healthy = positive, unhealthy = negative)
– suggests that resolved self-control dilemma faster

together, suggests that high trait self-control people are detecting self-control dilemmas earlier which allow them to deal with them in a faster and more efficient way at an unconscious level
- so good at this that they don’t consciously experience the temptation

Question 32

What are the implications of trait self-control research?

Answer 32

people that have good self-control are exercising this ability effortlessly by relying on automatic processes
- habits and routines
- earlier temptation detection

implies that if you want to improve your chances of completing a goal, make your behaviour as automatic as possible