Exploring the Mechanisms of Self-Control Improvement (summary)

Self-Control/ Self-Regulation

Inzlicht, M., Legault, L., & Teper, R. (2014). Exploring the Mechanisms of Self-Control Improvement. Current Directions In Psychological Science, 23(4), 302-307. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0963721414534256

Self-control, also known as willpower or executive function, is thought to be one of the most significant underlying factors in many behaviours. It can be defined as the mental processes that allow people to overcome urges, juggle competing tasks, and sustain attention. Failure in self-control manifests itself in life's common problems, such as obesity, financial debt, criminality, and infidelity. This article provides a framework that helps organize various methods that have been used to improve self-control

Cybernetics

Cybernetics is the scientific study of control, based on the characteristics of feedback loops, and is used to model control in people, animals, and machines. Cybernetic principles suggest that control relies on three separate processes: setting goals, monitoring when behavior conflicts with these goals, and implementing behavior that supports these goals.

These components are connected to one another via a feedback loop:

• First, a dieter sets a specific goal for the kinds of food he wants to eat (e.g., “Eat more broccoli, less chips”).

• Second, he monitors his eating behavior, looking for instances when his behavior deviates from his eating goals (e.g., “I’m eating chips now”).

• Third, when such discrepancies are detected, he changes his behavior (e.g., “Put down the chips, grab broccoli!”).

Setting Goals

The first step in establishing and improving self-control is setting goals. Goals are mental representations of future desired outcomes to which people are committed; they are more than fleeting desires and intentions. A goal requires the subject to commit thought, emotion, and behavior to attain them. Goal setting is process that creates a discrepancy between what one wants to be like and what one is currently like, and this discrepancy sets a goal in motion.

A goal must be specific, for example “Eat salad for lunch three times a week for the next month,” as opposed to an abstract goal “Try my best to eat well.” Setting concrete and measurable goals improves performance because it allows for straightforward monitoring of goal–behavior mismatches. Without this monitoring, people would not be able to track their progress and make appropriate improvements.

Setting goals that are aligned with personal values will contribute to greater self-control. Research has shown that the amount of motivation is not the only factor in the successful completion of goals; the quality of this motivation is also important. When goals are driven by intrinsic motivation, when they hold some kind of personal meaning, behaviour becomes easier to control. The reason for this is that autonomously selected goals are monitored with greater urgency, thereby facilitating the implementation of control

Improving Control by Monitoring

After people have set specific self-aligned goals, the next step is to examine one's behvaiour and pick out the discrepancies between the current behaviour and target behaviour. These discrepancies alert people to the possibility that their goals are in jeopardy and, in doing so, provoke shifts in behvaiour towards the goal. It is most important to pay attention to when they have failed to meet a goal, or when goal failure is likely. Noticing and reflecting on these failures allows people to see where their mistakes were and change their behaviours accordingly. It may also indicate that a goal is not achievable and should be modified.

According to models in neuroscience, control is thought to be initiated by a conflict-monitoring system localized to a brain region called the anterior cingulate cortex and captured by an evoked brain potential called the error-related negativity (ERN). This brain potential represents a quick neural response to errors or conflict and reflects on the detection of conflict and the affective response to conflict. Studies have shown that problems in self-control, such as alcoholism and obesity, are reduced in people who notice and react emotionally to goal conflicts. A high ERN, often found in individuals who set autonomous goals, is also associated with a better ability to control emotions. Thus, successful goal completion can be improved by training and focusing on this feedback loop.

One method of improving goal conflict monitoring is by practising mindfulness - focusing on the present moment without judgement. In mindfulness, individuals are aware of their actions but are not supposed to condemn themselves for actions that go against their goals. Studies have shown that self-control improves when people acknowledge and accept their errors, which may be because the acceptance of errors increases people’s ability to remain focused on their goals and to monitor for further goal conflicts. When people consider their errors without defense or judgment, they gain the ability to attend to them without distraction and are able to respond to them adaptively; acceptance, in other words, sharpens conflict monitoring.

Improving Control by Implementing Goal-Directed Behaviours

When working towards a goal, it is very common to experience mental fatigue. Recent studies have explained this mental fatigue as a change in motivational priorities. According to this view, self-control is effortful and aversive, with self-control fatigue being the result of decreased motivation to pursue goals seen as obligations and duties and increased motivation to pursue goals that are inherently interesting and gratifying. Thus, this system of change implementation should be viewed as one of limited resources, and in doing so, it is possible to train and increase this pool of willpower. The implementing system can become resilient against fatigue by reconsidering the personal benefits of the self-control goal and by providing a meaningful rationale to pursue the goal.

Another way to improve goal-implementation is by forming implementation intentions, behavioral plans that link anticipated situations with specified behaviors; they specify the when, where, and how of goal-directed behavior in advance. These plans must be specific, for example, “When I get home from work, I will exercise for 30 minutes.” Implementation intentions go a long way in putting thought about one's behaviour into achievable actions.