Self-Regulation
Self regulation is the ability to steer oneself in a certain direction, thus being the consistent appropiate application of self-control
Process rather than a state
It involves several elements such as goal setting, monitoring awareness, and evaluation
Self-Control
A moment or state of active control
- capacity to override or inhibit urges, behaviours and desires
- important for daily life
- requires resisting hedonic impulse in service of more deliberate evaluations & LT standards
- requires attention
Self-Efficacy
Peoples beliefs about their capabilities to produce designated levels of performance that exercise influence over events that affect their lives
How well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations
Impulse
urge to do what pleasure dictates
- specific
- arises if global motivation (e.g. thirst) & environmental stimulus (e.g. glass of lemonade)
- strong incentive value (primitive hedonic reaction to tempting stimulus)
Refelctive Impulsive Model (RIM)
concerned with how the 2 systems (impulsive & reflective) compete to determine behaviour
- assumes that both system access a common final mechanism for overt behaviour execution
- impulsive system
- reflective system
- impulsive system
- quick reactivation
- impulsive
- associative (from LTM)
- no need of attentional resources
- independent of conscious processes
- associative store which processes operate relatively fast & with little demands on resources (e.g. cognitive capacity)
- quick & rough suggestion for behaviour execution
- -> impulses emerge from repetitive temporal and spatial co-activation of certain associative clusters in LT memory
- -> once established = quick reactivation by perpetual inout + internal triggers
Measurements of Impulsive system
- implicit association test (IAT)
- affective priming paradigm
- reflective system
- serves regulatory goals
- responsible for higher order mental operations (e.g. executive functions)
- slower, controlled processes
- more flexible
- dependent on control resources
- reflects personal standards, attitudes and expectancies
- weights pros & cons to integrate information of ST & LT plans for “reasoned action”
- -> if control resource (e.g. cognitive capacity) are low –> reflective operations may break down due to self-monitoring
measurements of reflective system
- self-report
restraint standards + deliberative evaluations
situational moderators (Impulsive system)
- self regulatory resources
study: automatic affective reactions towards M&Ms with IAT
> M&M consumption was predicted by automatic affective reaction in depleted ppl but NOT in control ppl
> M&M consumption was effectively regulated in accordance with dietary restraint standard in ppl who were not depleted in self-regulatory resources (high restraint/no depletion= less consumption)
> restrained standards were slightly pos. associated with M&M consumption in depleted ppl (higher dietary restraint / higher depletion = high M&M consumption)
–> under low self-regulatory resources, the relative weight if impulse processes waxes & the influence of reflective processes wanes) - cognitive capacity
study: evaluation of chocolate vs fruit & IAT for personal preference, while choosing explicitly digit-number task in mind
> choice behaviour was predicted well by deliberate evaluations (not automatic affective reactions) for ppl who had to remember only 1-digit number
(the more explicitly ppl preferred chocolate, the more bars they picked)
> choice behaviour was predicted well by automatic affective reactions (not deliberative reactions) for ppl in 8-digit nr condition
–> cog loan moderated the relative influence of impulsive & reflective processes on choice behaviour
dispositional moderators (reflective system)
- working memory capacity
- -> higher WM = higher self-control
- trait self-control
- -> lower trait self-control = more impulsive, automatic, affective reactions
Consistent (RIM)
- consistent activation of schemata in 2 systems = facilitating of behavioural execution
–> e.g. being not attracted to sparkling wine, but to orange juice
so the aim of refraining from alcohol not difficult
Inconsistent (RIM)
inconsistent activation pf schemata in RIM
= preferably reflective system overrides behavioural schemata by impulsive system
–> e.g. being attracted to wine
but aims to stay abstinent from alcohol
Improving self-control
- considering one task over another
- replenish resources after intensive usage
- -> e.g. sleep, rest or glucose ST
- implementation intentions (if-then plans)
- training to achieve endurance
- improving executive functions (e.g. inhibition with go/nogo task)
Improving contents of impulsive system
- changing automatic associations
- -> by reconditioning
- changing attentional biases
- -> by visual-probe task
- changing approach tendencies
- -> by joystick task
Executive Functions
contribute to the self-regulation go eating behaviours by
- moderating relationship between intentions, desires/automatic attitudes & actual behaviour
- being affected by cognitive load
- predicting initiatory health behaviours (eating fruits & veggies)
- updating, inhibiting & shifting successfully eating behaviour to different extents
- poor inhibitory control = more unhealthy consumption
- updating
- inhibition
- task switching/shifting
Updating
update & monitor WM representations
- WM helps ppl to persist with LT goals (e.g. healthy eating)
- -> redirection of attention away from tempting stimuli & towards LT goals
- maintenance of goal-relevant info
Failure (risky for weight gain)
- low commitment
- strong impulses
- low trait (state) WM capacity
Inhibition
Inhibit impulses
- lower inhibitory control is associated with unhealthy eating habits (e.g. overeating)
- however, consumption of healthy foods appear to be unaffected by inhibitory control
- most important in stopping responses/resisting temptations
Failure (risky for weight gain)
- strong impulsive tendencies
- low inhibitory control
Task switching/shifting
shift attention from one task set to another
‘means-shifting’
- task switching facilitates ability to abandon suboptimal means to meet dieting goal
(e. g. realizing that cutting 1000 calories is unrealistic + deciding for reduction of 500 calories)’
‘goal-shifting’
- task switching allows people to disengage from their dieting goal & pursue tempting alternatives
Failure (risky weight gain)
- rigidity in rules
- -> mostly deficient in ppl with extremely high or low BMI
MODE Model
EMPIRICAL STUDY
2 modes of thinking
- spontaneous processing mode = based on attitude accessibility
- deliberative processing mode = based on attitude behaviour
- motivation in this model is generated by the fear of invalidity –> function of perceived costliness of a judgemental mistake to the self
- opportunity is is a function of available time and resources for processing
- engagement in deliberative processing depends on motivation and opportunity
MODE Model applied to the RIM
EMPIRICAL STUDY
- reflective processing is accompanied by a feeling of subjective effort and so requires motivation
- reflective system can influence behaviour only if opportunity is given
–> reliance on resources of WM and the relatively slow speed of reflective speed make this clear
E.g., seen in cognitive load studies →impaired self-control, reasoning etc. are affected
Self-regulatory Resources
- Bidirectionality: a negative effect that prior reflective decision-making exerts on subsequent self-regulation> e.g. having made effortful decisions previously solved fewer math problems than those who had engaged in fewer decisions during their shopping trip
hints at a connection between self-regulatory and reflective cognitive resources –> not proven yet - dietary standards and explicit target attitudes predict behaviour only when self-regulatory resources are available; when its not, implicit attitudes are better predictors
implicit self-esteem
an automatic evaluation of the self that occurs non-consciously and affects spontaneous reactions to self.relevant stimuli
- predicts diverse outcomes in situations like:anxiety in participants as they complete a self-relevant interview, levels of implicitgender bias in combination with implicit gender identity, depressive symptomatology 6 months after measurement
- it might be conceptualised as the total valence of the associative pattern linked with activation of the self in the impulsive system
> Possible method through which to increase implicit self-esteem by consistently affirming positive pairings of valence and self →for therapy of narcissism and other negative effects of low implicit self-esteem
explicit self-esteem
explicit evaluations of self-worth
- predictive power of subjective well-being
