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Errors as a Means of Reducing Impulsive Food Choice
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Beyond willpower.

James J Gross1, Angela L Duckworth2

  • 1Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA94305-2130gross@stanford.edu; http://spl.stanford.edu.

The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
|April 26, 2021
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Willpower is a vague concept. Self-control, the regulation of conflicting impulses, offers a clearer psychological framework for strengthening desirable behaviors and weakening undesirable ones.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Willpower is a popular but ambiguous psychological construct.
  • Existing definitions lack precision, hindering empirical research and practical application.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce self-control as a more precise and useful construct than willpower.
  • To present the process model of self-control as a framework for understanding impulse regulation.

Main Methods:

  • Conceptual analysis of psychological constructs.
  • Theoretical framework development based on self-regulation principles.

Main Results:

  • Self-control is defined as the self-regulation of conflicting impulses.
  • The process model of self-control offers a structured approach to analyzing impulse dynamics.

Conclusions:

  • The process model of self-control provides a principled framework for weakening undesirable impulses.
  • This model also facilitates strategies for strengthening desirable impulses, advancing the study of self-regulation.