Self-Control and the Reasons Behind Our Goals

Abstract

Motivation derived from a sense of truly valuing or enjoying one’s pursuits (“wanting to do it”) – as opposed to motivation born of external demands or other people’s expectations (“having to do it”) – is associated with goal-pursuit success and overall well-being. But what determines the quality of motivation in the first place? Many theoretical perspectives identify features of the task or situation as determinants, but have largely ignored the potential contribution of individual self-regulatory tendencies. We ask here whether individual differences in self-control may be associated with an individual’s likelihood of “wanting to” pursue current goals, operationalized as the momentary experience of autonomous motivation. We first describe an exploratory experience-sampling study that documented the association (Study 1) and prompted subsequent development of the hypothesis that trait self-control and autonomous motivation are related. A second experience sampling study replicated the effect (Study 1R) and two cross-sectional studies helped hone its interpretation (Studies 2 and 3). We then employed an experimental paradigm to test whether the association between trait self-control and autonomous motivation is goal-dependent. Consistent with an instrumental, self-regulatory account of the association, we found that trait self-control was related to autonomous motivation for a novel task only when an individual expected to continue working on that task (Study 4). Employing an integrative perspective, this work expands our understanding of trait self-control by identifying it as a candidate contributor to motivation quality, and, more generally, helps to integrate otherwise disparate approaches to understanding motivation.

Explaining Everyday Behaviours and Situational Context by Personality Metatraits and Higher–Order Values

“…People differ in their strength of need for autonomy (Prentice, Halusic, & Sheldon, ) and also in the frequency with which they experience autonomy on daily basis. However, not much is known about correlates of these individual differences (Converse et al, ). The results of our current study indicate links between the frequency of experience of autonomy in everyday behaviours and general personality dispositions.…”

“…Ching et al () showed, however, that perceived autonomy in daily situations does not moderate the strength of the relationships between personality traits and states. On the other hand, Converse, Juarez, and Hennecke () suggested that perceived autonomy can be of interest as a dependent variable. They noted that the potential contribution of individual differences to the quality of motivation has been ignored thus far by both theory and research.…”

Doing despite Disliking: Self–Regulatory Strategies in Everyday Aversive Activities

“…Recent evidence suggest that self‐control relates to a broad range of behaviours and processes beyond the effortful inhibition of undesired responses: for example, it has been associated with the proactive avoidance of temptation (Ent, Baumeister, & Tice, ), the establishment of beneficial habits (Adriaanse, Kroese, Gillebaart, & De Ridder, ; Galla & Duckworth, ), the experience of one's daily activities as more autonomously regulated (e.g. more fun and interesting; Converse, Juarez, & Hennecke, ), and a weakened desire for temptations that conflict with a current goal (Hofmann, Baumeister, Förster, & Vohs, ). We locate our approach within this broad view of trait self‐control as reflecting a group of processes that determine how people pursue goals in different situations (Fleeson & Jayawickreme, ; McCabe & Fleeson, ).…”

Motivation and self‐regulation: The role of want‐to motivation in the processes underlying self‐regulation and self‐control

“…Such motivation is thought to be judged by integrating information about the broader goal (e.g., am I performing this action in service of a want‐to or have‐to goal? ), relevant contextual cues (e.g., how interesting is this activity; Sansone & Thoman, ), and individual differences (e.g., trait self‐control; Converse Juarez, & Hennecke, ).…”