Abstract
Self-control (SC) is an individual trait defined as the ability to pursue long-distance goals in spite of the obstacles generated by current desires, innate or learned automatisms, and physiological needs of an organism. This trait is relatively stable across the life span and it predicts such important features as level of income, quality of social relationships, and proneness to addictions. It is widely believed that the cognitive substrate of SC involves the executive functions (EFs), such as inhibitory control, shifting of attention, and working memory updating. However, the empirical evidence concerning the relationships between trait SC and EFs is not convincing. The present study aims to address two questions: (1) what is the strength of relationships between trait SC and EFs, and (2) which aspects of SC are predicted by particular EFs, if at all. In order to answer these questions, we carried out a psychometric study with 296 participants (133 men and 163 women, mean age 23.31, SD 3.64), whom we investigated with three types of tools: (1) a battery SC scales and inventories, (2) a battery of EFs tasks, and (3) two general intelligence tests. Structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the data. We found that the latent variables representing SC and the latent variable representing EFs did not show any relationship. The standardized path coefficient between EFs and general intelligence turned out rather strong. We conclude that the trait of SC, measured with questionnaires, does not depend on the strength of cognitive control, measured with EFs tasks.
Highlights
Self-control (SC) is a human capability to pursue distant valuable goals in spite of obstacles produced by situational influences, innate or learned automatisms, and inner impulses caused by current physiological needs
We added two general fluid intelligence tests (Gf) with the intention to check whether potential relationships between SC and executive functions (EFs) would be affected in some way by Gf
We investigated healthy adult volunteers who demonstrated the wide range of the trait of SC, whereas studies demonstrating the existence of the EF—SC relation were typically run with special populations, such as incarcerated violent offenders (Seruca and Silva, 2016; Meijers et al, 2017)
Summary
Self-control (SC) is a human capability to pursue distant valuable goals in spite of obstacles produced by situational influences, innate or learned automatisms, and inner impulses caused by current physiological needs. Watching a movie with an instruction to ignore subtitles appearing at the bottom of the screen makes a person less able to do higher-order cognitive tasks, such as cognitive tests (Baumeister et al, 1998). Such studies provided empirical background for the so-called strength theory of SC, known as the ‘ego depletion’ theory (Baumeister et al, 2007; Hagger et al, 2010), according to which self-regulation is a kind of resource
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
