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Self-Control & Impulsivity
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Control (noun) – the act or power of controlling; regulation; domination or command: Who’s in control here? dictionary.com. The concept of control is immeasurably powerful and influential, and throughout history individuals have labored, sacrificed, and waged war in the name of gaining control. After all, there is a lot to be had when you are in control – control affords you power and security, and it gives you a leg up on the competition. Although there are many things we might desire to control in this life, including the people around us, the world at large, and the hands of fate, the most important control that we can possess is over the self. Without self-control we would be slaves to impulse and utterly incapable of directing our lives toward long-term goals that may conflict with immediate desires. Accordingly, self-control is often conceptualized as the ability to inhibit impulsive responses in order to delay gratification until a later time, when more appropriate rewards may be available. For example, overcoming the impulse to eat that extra piece of chocolate cake right now helps ensure that later on we will be rewarded when we step on the bathroom scale and when we visit the doctor for a cholesterol test. Accordingly, I am interested in discovering how various forms of self-regulation (e.g. a focus on being active) can influence self-controlled versus impulsive behavior, and what mechanisms would mediate such a relation.
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Action Orientation & Behavior Change
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If someone wants to live a happier, healthier life, but needs to substantially change a personal behavior, should this individual adopt an approach that is focused on being active and energized or one that is focused on being relatively inactive and relaxed? Although many psychological frameworks promote a state of action-orientation for the duration of the change process (e.g. cognitive therapy; Beck, 1976), other established techniques suggest that temporary states of inaction-orientation are necessary (e.g. meditation; also, early psychoanalysis – c.f. Freud, 1912, 1919). For example, when a person attempts to diet, is it more effective to respond to the presentation of tempting foods by actively counter-arguing the urge to eat, or by relaxing in an attempt to eliminate any arousal provoked by the food? This ambiguity suggests that it may be fruitful to examine if a general action orientation (i.e. a focus on actively engaging a situation) or a general inaction orientation (i.e. a focus on relaxing and down-regulating behavioral output) offers an advantage in promoting self-control during the behavior change process.
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