Succeed Introduction Flashcards
How do people blame their failures?
on the wrong things
who can become more successful at reaching their goals?
anyone
what are we really talking about when we talk about willpower?
self-control
self-control
the ability to guide your actions in pursuit of a goal
self-control among people
- Everyone has some self-control
- Some people have more self-control than others
people with a lot of self control
- they sometimes run out
- ex. if you spend all of your self-control at work, you may lack the self-control to lose weight
do we usually know what is needed to achieve our goals?
yes, we usually know exactly what we need to do to achieve our goals and still fail
self-control as a muscle
- It varies in its strength from person to person and moment to moment
- If you rest it, it will gain its strength back
- You are most vulnerable immediately after you’ve used up your self-control reserves
Baumeister et al. hungry college students study
found that hungry college students who were presented with chocolate and radishes and told to eat radishes (used more self-control) gave up more quickly when faced with unsolvable problems than those who were told to eat the chocolate
self-control and incentives
A lack of self-control can be overcome with well-chosen incentives or rewards
Muraven & Slessareva Kool-aid study
had students watch a 5-minute funny clip and instructed half of the students not to laugh. Then, they had students drink a vinegar Kool-Aid. The students were either paid well or poorly for drinking the beverage. They found that those who had suppressed their laughter drank half as much as those who didn’t in the poorly paid condition, but that there was no effect in the well-paid condition
what does the Kool-Aid study demonstrate?
increasing your motivation through better rewards can help you compensate for a temporary loss of self-control
is self-control static?
no, self control is learned and developed over time
how can you improve your self-control?
Engaging in daily activities such as exercise
Gaillot et al. non-dominant hand and self-control study
asked participants to spend two weeks using their non-dominant hand to do things and found that they performed significantly better on a task that required self-control
