Chapter 16 - Linking Diverse Resources to Action Control

Abstract

The capacity for controlling one's behaviors operates as if relying on a limited resource. After initial self-control exertions, subsequent self-control suffers. The current chapter stresses that this capacity for control represents only one resource on which people draw to achieve desired outcomes. A person may draw on other personal resources—bodily resources, social resources, or money—to achieve the same ends. Crucially, the various resources people draw on are, to a degree, substitutable. Furthermore, given this substitutability, we argue that the availability of nonmental resources may influence a person's willingness to engage in mentally effortful action control. If other resources are abundant, then a person may be more willing to expend mental resources. If other resources are scarce, then a person may be less willing to expend mental resources. In this chapter, we review the evidence consistent with this line of thought and explore implications of this theory for action control.