Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
miller-mccune.com
Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
1–10 of 22 posts
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#2interesting. i realise that there must be much more evidence and study than is contained in that article, but it struck me that for the particular experiment they gave the people with the harder task may have a stronger sense of being "owed" something, since they made more effort, and that maybe this stronger sense of entitlement leads them to take more rewards...?
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#3interesting. i realise that there must be much more evidence and study than is contained in that article, but it struck me that for the particular experiment they gave the people with the harder task may have a stronger sense of being "owed" something, since they made more effort, and that maybe this stronger sense of entitlement leads them to take more rewards...?
a very good point.
don't really get this study and line of thinking.
Are they saying there's an optimum sweet spot because if you don't exercise self control at all then it's hard to have a decent amount of it.
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#4There is a lot more evidence.
http://lesswrong.com/lw/10x/the_physiology_of_willpower/ -- exerting willpower leads to glucose-depletion.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=848839 -- this topic has been on here before, though it was a different paper.
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#5interesting. i realise that there must be much more evidence and study than is contained in that article, but it struck me that for the particular experiment they gave the people with the harder task may have a stronger sense of being "owed" something, since they made more effort, and that maybe this stronger sense of entitlement leads them to take more rewards...?
I agree, there must be more. It occurs to me that one might simply have a greater incentive to cheat on the second test as it involves money.
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#6There is a lot more evidence. http://lesswrong.com/lw/10x/the_physiology_of_willpower/ -- exerting willpower leads to glucose-depletion. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=848839 -- this topic has been on here before, though it was a different paper.
thanks!
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#7A similar study of weight-lifting would conclude that it weakens you: after all, doing some squats leads to fatigue. Frequently an activity that causes effect X in the short term leads to its opposite when repeated over long periods; see drug habituation, the effects of physical exercise, the effects of intellectual efforts, etc.
This study tells us that self-control might be a bit like a muscle, in that its use acutely makes it weaker. But do we chronically adapt to its use, and become stronger once the temporary fatigue has passed, as with so many other forms of stress? Intuitively, from my experience, we do, but it might be interesting to study. Either way, this possibility makes this study insufficient basis for advice to "use it sparingly."
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#8interesting. i realise that there must be much more evidence and study than is contained in that article, but it struck me that for the particular experiment they gave the people with the harder task may have a stronger sense of being "owed" something, since they made more effort, and that maybe this stronger sense of entitlement leads them to take more rewards...?
I agree, there must be more. It occurs to me that one might simply have a greater incentive to cheat on the second test as it involves money.
The incentive to cheat on the second test is the same no matter how hard the first task was.
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#9interesting. i realise that there must be much more evidence and study than is contained in that article, but it struck me that for the particular experiment they gave the people with the harder task may have a stronger sense of being "owed" something, since they made more effort, and that maybe this stronger sense of entitlement leads them to take more rewards...?
I had the same thought. Back when I was in school, I would often eat a lot of junk food after studying. It wasn't that I was tired from exerting self-control, but rather that I thought I deserved it. Many other studies about morality have shown a similar effect; people who do something "good" early on are less likely to later on because they feel they've reached their internal "doing good stuff" quota. For instance, people who do programs like Teach for America have much lower rates of volunteerism afterwards than others.
Re: Self-control is a limited resource, use it sparingly.
#10This explains some aspects of corporate politics quite nicely.