Trait self-control: A Process Model perspective

What do self-controlled individuals do that distinguishes them from those who are more impulsive? That is, why are some people better able to align their behavior with personal long-term goals despite alternatives that would be more immediately gratifying? To address this question, we use the Process Model of Self-Control [1], which posits that all impulses are generated via a four-stage, recursive process and can be regulated by intentionally intervening at any of these stages. We suggest that this framework illuminates not only individual states of self-control, but also the diverse ways that stable individual differences in self-control can come about.