Protecting an important goal: When prior self-control increases motivation for active goal pursuit

Abstract

The recent debate in the study of ego depletion casts doubt on the assumption that self-control has a limited capacity. Adopting a revisionist perspective, we assume that people manage self-control exertion efficiently and ask what psychological mechanism would counteract motivational withdrawal following initial exertion in order to sustain an important goal pursuit. We predicted and found that prior self-control increased students' motivation for active pursuit of the academic goal. In Study 1, prior self-control reduced students' behavioral intentions for school work and non-academic activities alike when academic pursuit was not activated. Under active pursuit of the academic goal, however, prior self-control uniquely increased students' intentions for school work. In Study 2, this facilitatory effect of prior self-control on behavioral intention toward an academic goal was replicated and accompanied by positive implicit attitudes toward study-related stimuli. In Study 3, when preparing to pursue the academic goal, prior self-control increased students' tendency to proactively remove a temptation from the immediate context (leave their phone with the experimenter) to support better task performance. Our investigation illustrates the importance of examining not only the debilitating but also the potentially facilitatory effect of prior self-control exertion.