Willpower R Baumeister Flashcards
List 5 individual traumas that are usually related to low self control
Poor self- control correlates with just about every kind of individual trauma: losing friends, being fired, getting divorced, financial troubles, winding up in prison.
They’ve come to realize that most major problems, personal and social, center on failure of self- control: compulsive spending and borrowing, impulsive violence, underachievement in school, procrastination at work, alcohol and drug abuse, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, chronic anxiety, explosive anger.
What are the two personal qualities that predict positive outcomes in life and which one can be improved?
When psychologists isolate the personal qualities that predict “positive outcomes” in life, they consistently find two traits: intelligence and self- control.
What were the 3 main consequences of the decay of the”Victorian concept of personal moral strength?”
Sociologists identified a new generation of “other- directed” people who were guided by their neighbors’ opinions rather than by strong inner moral convictions. The stern self- help books of the Victorian era came to be seen as naïvely self-centered.
The feel- good philosophy would be distilled to a rhyming slogan: “Believe it, achieve it.”
Freudian therapies no longer worked the way they were supposed to.
Wheelis and his colleagues found that people achieved insight more quickly than in Freud’s day, but then the therapy often stalled and failed. Lacking the sturdy character of the Victorians, people didn’t have the strength to follow up on the insight and change their lives.
What experiment was one of the death blows against the Freudian psychoanalytic approach to psychology, which emphasized early childhood experiences as the foundation of adult personality?
The Marshmallows experience in the 60’s
Progress generally comes not from theories but from someone finding a clever way to test a theory, as Walter Mischel did.
They were studying how a child learns to resist immediate gratification, and they found a creative new way to observe the process in four- year- old children.
According to Baumeister, what are the general advantages of someone with stronger self control? List at least 4 of them
In workplaces, managers scoring high in self- control were rated more favorably by their subordinates as well as by their peers.
People with good self- control seemed exceptionally good at forming and maintaining secure, satisfying attachments to other people. They were shown to be better at empathizing with others and considering things from other people’s perspectives.
They were more stable emotionally and less prone to anxiety, depression, paranoia, psychoticism, obsessive- compulsive behavior, eating disorders, drinking problems, and other maladies.
They got angry less often, and when they did get angry, they were less likely to get aggressive, either verbally or physically.
Ego depletion creates a double problem to our willpower. What is it?
Ego depletion thus creates a double whammy: Your willpower is diminished and your cravings feel stronger than ever.
If you find yourself especially bothered by frustrating events, or saddened by unpleasant thoughts, or even happier about some good news— then maybe it’s because your brain’s circuits aren’t controlling emotions as well as usual.
What are the four categories of willpower?
Thoughts control
Emotions control
Impulses control
Performance control
What is the first and most general principle when setting goals of willpower improvement?
Focus on one project at a time. If you set more than one self- improvement goal, you may succeed for a while by drawing on reserves to power through, but that just leaves you more depleted and more prone to serious mistakes later. When people have to make a big change in their lives, their efforts are undermined if they are trying to make other changes as well.
