Self Control
The Effect of Suppressing Thoughts on Self-Control Capacity
Cindy Mei
University of Wisconsin- Madison
Introduction
Self- control is essential for everyone when they are trying to make choices regarding themselves or others. Humans made choices either to obtain rewards or to avoid punishments. For example, students control themselves to not go out but study before an exam in order to earn a good grade. Children follow the house rules so their mothers won’t yell at them. It seems self- control is a good thing but what explains for those who lacks it? If we can control ourselves, why robbing, murdering, and raping still happen around us and we know the punishment is harsh?
Previous studies showed that 95% of lawful behaviors were controlled by the automatic or nonconscious processes (Baumeister, Bratskavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998). Baumeister et al. were interested in the 5% that was controlled by the self. They described the idea of “ego depletion”, which is the reduction in willingness to exercise self-control after using self-control. In order to test the theory, Baumeister et al. had set up more than one experiment. Experiment 1 tested the effect of the type of foods on the time spent on the unsolvable puzzles. Participants were given the instructions to eat only radishes or only chocolates in a room where both foods were available and visible. A no-food condition (control) was also instructed where participants go directly to the puzzle solving. Baumeister et al. hypothesized that people in the radishes condition will use more self-control because they have to resist the temptation to eat the chocolates visible in their sight but can only eat the radishes, which are less desirable. Results indicated significance differences on the mean time spent on the unsolvable puzzles: participants in the radishes condition quit sooner and with least attempts before quitting than the other two conditions. This supported the ego depletion hypothesis because
Cindy Mei
University of Wisconsin- Madison
Introduction
Self- control is essential for everyone when they are trying to make choices regarding themselves or others. Humans made choices either to obtain rewards or to avoid punishments. For example, students control themselves to not go out but study before an exam in order to earn a good grade. Children follow the house rules so their mothers won’t yell at them. It seems self- control is a good thing but what explains for those who lacks it? If we can control ourselves, why robbing, murdering, and raping still happen around us and we know the punishment is harsh?
Previous studies showed that 95% of lawful behaviors were controlled by the automatic or nonconscious processes (Baumeister, Bratskavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998). Baumeister et al. were interested in the 5% that was controlled by the self. They described the idea of “ego depletion”, which is the reduction in willingness to exercise self-control after using self-control. In order to test the theory, Baumeister et al. had set up more than one experiment. Experiment 1 tested the effect of the type of foods on the time spent on the unsolvable puzzles. Participants were given the instructions to eat only radishes or only chocolates in a room where both foods were available and visible. A no-food condition (control) was also instructed where participants go directly to the puzzle solving. Baumeister et al. hypothesized that people in the radishes condition will use more self-control because they have to resist the temptation to eat the chocolates visible in their sight but can only eat the radishes, which are less desirable. Results indicated significance differences on the mean time spent on the unsolvable puzzles: participants in the radishes condition quit sooner and with least attempts before quitting than the other two conditions. This supported the ego depletion hypothesis because