Intended responses to romantic partners’ annoying behaviours vary with willpower beliefs

When a romantic partner behaves in an annoying way – for example, by leaving a mess – we might respond with frustration or understanding. Responses may vary with contextual factors, including whether the partner could be mentally fatigued or depleted. We hypothesized that limited willpower theorists – who believe self-control diminishes with use – might be especially likely to consider their partner’s preceding mental exertion. Two preregistered studies (combined N = 428) examined participants’ responses to four hypothetical scenarios. Limited theorists responded more compassionately to infractions performed after fatiguing days than to those performed after relaxing days; non-limited theorists responded more consistently, regardless of context. Beliefs about one’s own willpower, rather than beliefs about one’s partner’s willpower, can affect how people respond to their partner’s undesirable behaviours.     

自我控制对睡眠质量的影响:反刍思维与就寝拖延的中介作用

本研究主要考察了自我控制对睡眠质量的影响作用,以及反刍思维和就寝拖延的中介作用。采用相关量表对1104名大学生进行问卷调查。研究结果表明:(1)自我控制可以负向预测睡眠质量问题、反刍思维和就寝拖延。(2)自我控制还通过反刍思维和就寝拖延的单独中介及序列中介,间接影响睡眠质量。     

睡眠拖延行为背后的心理生理机制解析

摘 要 睡眠拖延行为是健康行为拖延领域提出的一个新概念,其可概括为在没有外部原因阻碍的情况下,仍无法在预定时间上床睡觉的现象。目前的研究认为睡眠拖延行为是导致普通人群睡眠不足的重要原因,睡前日常活动及沉浸式活动常常诱导其发生,探讨其背后机制主要涉及自我调节和生物节律两大因素。利用时限性自我调节理论可尝试解析睡眠拖延行为的发生过程。未来研究可从其神经机制探讨及预防和干预措施等方面尝试展开。     

Self-control depletion and sleep duration: the mediating role of television viewing

Abstract

Objective: Sleep insufficiency has been related to self-control failure: people fail to go to bed in time and end up sleep deprived. The role of state self-control in predicting bedtime and sleep duration has not yet been investigated. Based on research claiming an overlap between depleted self-control resources and fatigue, self-control depletion may foster earlier bedtimes. Conversely, self-control depletion also increases the propensity to procrastinate bedtime by giving in to the immediate gratification of late night entertainment. This study therefore looked at procrastinatory television viewing and its intermediary role in the association between state self-control and bedtime. The implications for sleep duration are examined. Design: Firstyear students (N = 234) participated in an online survey. Using Day Reconstruction Method, they charted their activities and experiences during the preceding day and subsequent bedtime behavior. Results: Self-control depletion was directly related to earlier bedtimes, which we explained by its similarity to fatigue. This was associated with longer sleep duration. Self-control depletion was indirectly related to later bedtimes because it increased the propensity to procrastinate by watching television. This was associated with shorter sleep duration. Conclusion: This study exposes a dual pathway between self-control depletion and sleep duration, whereby procrastinatory television viewing may reduce sleep duration.     

Perceived willpower self-efficacy fluctuates dynamically with affect and distress intolerance

People may experience subjective shifts in their self-efficacy for exerting willpower over time and based on context, and people who struggle with self-control may be particularly vulnerable to willpower self-efficacy fluctuations. Across four samples (college students without borderline features: n = 49; borderline features group: n = 50; current smokers: n = 61; chronic dieters: n = 92), participants completed one week of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) where momentary self-efficacy for willpower, positive affect, negative affect, tiredness, and distress intolerance were assessed randomly seven times per day. Results revealed that higher willpower self-efficacy was associated with lower negative affect and greater positive affect, and, lower willpower self-efficacy predicted subsequent distress intolerance via time-lagged analyses for the borderline features group.     

Expecting tasks to help or hurt subsequent cognitive performance: Variability,accuracy, and bias in forecasted after-effects

After-effects on cognition—where a prior activity either benefits or hinders subsequent cognitive performance—are empirically inconsistent. Do people have insight into when their subjective energy and cognition will be helped or hurt by engaging in prior activities? Studies 1a and 1b (combined N  =  316) find that people expect more demanding and unenjoyable tasks to hinder their subsequent energy and cognitive performance, regardless of their willpower lay theory. Study 2 (N  =  167) examines the accuracy of these forecasts using a within-subject design. Participants’ forecasts of their future subjective states did predict their actual experienced subjective states, but participants were not able to accurately forecast their subsequent maths performance. Additionally, they significantly overestimated the detrimental effects of demanding prior activities on both subjective state and performance. Study 3 (N  =  210) found that participants’ overestimation of detrimental after-effects could result in unnecessary financial costs, suggesting these biased forecasts can have consequences.     

Changes in sleep quality and levels of psychological distress during the adaptation to university: The role of childhood adversity

Stress-related sleep disturbances are common, and poor sleep quality can negatively affect health. Previous work indicates that early-life adversity is associated with compromised sleep quality later in life, but it is unknown whether it predicts greater declines in sleep quality during stressful life transitions. We propose and test a conceptual model whereby individuals who reported experiencing greater levels of child maltreatment would experience greater psychological distress during a stressful life transition, which in turn would contribute to greater declines in sleep quality, relative to their quality of sleep before the stressful transition. Controlling for potential confounding variables (e.g., age, gender), structural equation modelling demonstrated that psychological distress experienced during a stressful transition (i.e., beginning life at university) mediated the relationship between childhood emotional neglect and changes in sleep quality. The hypothesized model demonstrated a good overall fit to the data, χ ² (15) = 17.69, p = .279, CFI = .99, TLI = .97, SRMR = .04, RMSEA = .04 (90% CI <0.001–0.09). Emotional neglect (β = .22) was positively associated with psychological distress which in turn was positively associated with poor sleep quality (β = .31) during a stressful transition. Future research should aim to understand the specific stressors in the university environment that are most challenging to individuals who faced early-life emotional maltreatment. These findings will help inform interventions to facilitate adaptation to a new environment and improve sleep quality for these university students.     

How to work out and avoid procrastination: The role of goal focus

This 8-week longitudinal experience sampling study with N = 346 participants (n = 242 completers) of a high-intensity interval training program explored how goal focus (i.e., a focus on the process vs. outcome of goal pursuit) is related to procrastination and successful goal pursuit. Specifically, the study investigated the association between goal focus and participants' adherence to their workout plans (i.e., procrastination), their immediate experience during the workout (e.g., pleasantness), and their intentions to work out when they were procrastinating. Moreover, the study examined how process and outcome focus are linked to overall goal achievement, workout satisfaction, and objective fitness gains. Converging with previous research, results suggest that adopting a process focus is adaptive. In addition, the analyses revealed some positive relationships between outcome focus and immediate indicators of successful goal pursuit. However, in contrast to process focus, outcome focus was not related to the overall measures and even seemed maladaptive once people were procrastinating.     

A Low-Intensity,High-Frequency Intervention to Reduce Procrastination

Studies assessing the efficacy of interventions aimed at reducing procrastination have generally lacked robust longitudinal measurement tools. Recent developments in communication technology and applications of the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) have made observations of such dynamic phenomena possible. We leveraged recent advancements in smartphone technology and ESM to measure delay associated with procrastination, while testing a low-intensity, high-frequency intervention to reducing that delay. First-year university students (N = 107) reported their progress on an assignment twice daily over 14 days prior to the required submission date. Half (n = 51) were randomly allocated to an intervention condition in which they were also asked open-ended questions designed to prompt reflection on four domains proposed to reduce procrastination, namely: expectancy, value, delay sensitivity, and metacognition. Multilevel mixed effect models revealed lower behavioral delay in the intervention condition compared to the control condition. This effect was strongest in those who at baseline scored below the median on trait procrastination. Behavioral delay over the 14-day period was not associated with later assignment submission or lower assignment marks. These findings support a novel method for reducing delay and suggest procrastination can be alleviated in a wide range of contexts using relatively inexpensive and non-intrusive strategies.     

The relevance of sleep and circadian misalignment for procrastination among shift workers

This daily diary study contributes to current research uncovering the role of sleep for employees’ effective self‐regulation at work. We focus on shift workers’ effective self‐regulation in terms of their general and day‐specific inclination to procrastinate, that is, their tendency to delay the initiation or completion of work activities. We hypothesized that transitory sleep characteristics (day‐specific sleep quality and sleep duration) and chronic sleep characteristics in terms of circadian misalignment are relevant for procrastination. Sixty‐six shift workers completed two daily questionnaires over the course of one work week, resulting in 332 days of analysis. Results of multilevel regression analyses showed that on days when shift workers slept better and longer—compared to days when they slept worse and shorter—they had more energy and willpower available after sleep and subsequently were less prone to procrastination. Moreover, the more work times (permanent shift) were misaligned with employees’ sleep–wake preferences (chronotype) the more pronounced was shift workers’ inclination to procrastinate at work. The present findings provide important implications for shift workers’ effective functioning at work.

Practitioner Points

• To promote shift workers’ effective functioning at work, when scheduling shift work, circadian principles should be taken into account, and work times should be aligned with workers’ chronotypes.
• Day‐specific sleep quality and duration co‐vary with procrastination at work. Thus, on days on which procrastination would be especially harmful, sleep of good quality and of sufficient duration should be obtained.

     

Implicit Theories About Willpower Predict Subjective Well‐Being

Lay theories about willpower—the belief that willpower is a limited versus nonlimited resource—affect self‐control and goal striving in everyday life (Job, Dweck, & Walton, 2010). Three studies examined whether willpower theories also relate to people's subjective well‐being by shaping the progress they make toward their personal goals. A cross‐sectional (Study 1) and two longitudinal studies (Studies 2 and 3) measured individuals’ willpower theories and different indicators of subjective well‐being. Additionally, Study 3 measured goal striving and personal goal progress. A limited theory about willpower was associated with lower subjective well‐being in a sample of working adults (Study 1, N = 258). Further, a limited theory predicted lower levels of well‐being at a time when students faced high self‐regulatory demands (Study 2, N = 196). Study 3 (N = 157) replicated the finding that students with a limited theory experienced lower well‐being in phases of high self‐regulatory demands and found that personal goal progress mediated this relationship. Results suggest that the belief that willpower is based on a limited resource has negative implications not only for self‐control but also for personal goal striving and subjective well‐being.     

Self-control strength and physical exercise: An ecological momentary assessment study

ObjectiveWe tested predictions made by the self-control strength model on a day level using ecological momentary assessment methodology. The study examined the relationship between self-control strength and physical exercise in participants who intended to exercise on a regular basis. We hypothesized that individuals would exercise more on days when their self-control strength was high than on days when their self-control strength was low and that trait self-control would moderate this relationship.MethodsN = 63 students aged between 19 and 32 years participated in the study. Self-control strength and physical exercise were assessed daily over a period of 20 days with an electronic diary.ResultsMultilevel analyses revealed that the level of self-control strength was positively associated with physical exercise (p = 0.01), and this relationship was stronger in individuals with low trait self-control than in those with high trait self-control (interaction effect: p = 0.03).ConclusionThese findings highlight the interplay between momentarily fluctuating variables such as self-control strength and dispositional variables such as trait self-control in the prediction of physical exercise.     

Connected guys: Endorsement of masculine honour predicts more frequent contact with members of criminal organisations

Italian criminal organisations (COs) engage in contact with community members to assert their control over local populations in Southern Italy. According to intracultural appropriation theory, COs’ presence in these regions is legitimised by values of masculinity and honour. Here, we test the role of these values in drawing people closer to COs, facilitating more frequent contact with COs’ members. Study 1 (N_T1 = 176, N_T2 = 170) used a two-wave longitudinal design demonstrating that endorsement of masculine honour predicts more frequent contact with COs after five months. In contrast, results revealed no longitudinal effect of contact frequency on masculine honour endorsement. Using a cross-sectional design, Study 2 (N = 314) extended these results by revealing an indirect effect of masculine honour on the tendency to see COs as embodying honour and respect (romanticisation), through more frequent contact with COs’ members. Limitations, directions for future research and implications of these results are discussed.     

Revisiting Ego Depletion: Moderators and Measurement

We developed and validated two web-based tasks to induce and measure ego depletion in two online experiments (N?=?122 and N?=?788). Ego depletion describes the phenomenon that exerting self-control temporarily reduces people’s capacity to subsequently control themselves. To induce ego depletion, we adapted the e-crossing task, and to measure ego depletion, we adapted the color Stroop task. We successfully induced ego depletion. Participants’ implicit theories about willpower as well as their mood moderated ego depletion. We also discuss several methodological issues and compare different approaches of measuring ego depletion using aggregated reaction times.     

Can faith move mountains? How implicit theories about willpower moderate the adverse effect of daily emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at work and its spillover to the home-domain

Recent findings have demonstrated that implicit theories about willpower (the belief whether willpower relies on a limited vs. nonlimited resource) moderate the ego-depletion-effect. This study examines this moderating mechanism in occupational settings where employees increasingly have to deal with the unpleasant state of emotional dissonance, which requires the exertion of volitional self-control. By integrating findings on implicit theories about willpower, arguments brought up by the strength model of self-control, and notions from the spillover literature, we propose that believing in a nonlimited resource theory of willpower buffers the effect of emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at work and diminishes the spillover of ego-depletion from the work- to the home-domain. In a diary study covering 10 working days (N = 71), we examine a moderated mediation model in which ego-depletion at work mediates the relation between emotional dissonance and ego-depletion at home and analyse whether implicit theories about willpower moderate both paths (a and b) of the proposed mediation model. Our results provide support for the mediation hypothesis and show that endorsing a nonlimited resource theory buffers the effect of emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at work, thereby disrupting the indirect effect of emotional dissonance on ego-depletion at home. Subsequently, we discuss implications of holding a nonlimited resource theory.     

Absorbed in the moment? An investigation of procrastination,absorption and cognitive failures

Mood-repair conceptualizations of procrastination suggest that regulation of immediate mood is prioritized over instrumental action towards goals. The aim of the current research was to examine how and why absorption – a mindset reflecting a responsiveness to engaging stimuli – may account for procrastinators’ tendency to focus on immediately rewarding activities at the cost of their long term goals, and the cognitive implications of being absorbed in the moment. Across two student samples (Study 1: N = 103; Study 2: N = 339) procrastination was associated with absorption. A bootstrapping analysis of the indirect effects of procrastination on absorption through state anxiety in Study 1 was significant supporting the hypothesized role of absorption as a vulnerability towards mood-regulating distractions for procrastinators. In Study 2 small but significant indirect effects of procrastination on cognitive failures through absorption emerged, supporting the proposition that absorption may have a cognitive toll for procrastinators. Taken together, these findings suggest a cognitive escape hypothesis to explain how procrastinators deal with negative moods, and provides new insights into the factors and processes that contribute to the self-regulation difficulties that characterize trait procrastination.     

The personality-related implications of Stroop performance: Stress-contingent self-control in daily life

People with higher levels of executive control, relative to low levels, should be more capable of responding to the problems and stressors of their lives, yet we know very little concerning this lab-to-life interface. Two studies (total N = 254) sought to speak to questions of this type using the Stroop task, a classic measure of executive control. Individual differences in Stroop costs were assessed in the laboratory, following which the same people completed daily diary protocols for two weeks. Consistent with neurocognitive theories of executive control, both studies found that people capable of overriding the Stroop effect tended to recruit self-control in response to the stressful circumstances of their lives. By contrast, people with high Stroop costs did not exhibit this problem-focused form of recruitment. The findings extend our knowledge of individual differences in executive control and the manner in which they operate in daily life.     

Suicide attempts and stressful life events among homeless people in Madrid (Spain)

The article describes a study carried out with a representative sample of homeless people in Madrid (Spain; N = 188). This study aims to corroborate the relationship identified in the literature between stressful life events and suicidal behaviour in a group in a situation of social exclusion, to assess the differences in the number and characteristics of stressful life events experienced by homeless people who are attempters and non‐attempters, and to identify which combination of stressful life events enables discrimination for suicide attempts among homeless people. The results show that 30% of homeless people in Madrid had attempted suicide, and 57.9% of them had done so for the first time when they were homeless. The interviewees are shown to have experienced a large amount of stressful life events, with substantially more stressors experienced by the homeless people who tried to commit suicide, during both their childhood and adolescence and throughout their life. Finally, we found that the combination of 7 stressful life events provided the best possible discrimination between homeless attempters and non‐attempters.     

Sleep as a mediator of the relationship between social class and health in higher education students

A substantial body of research indicates that higher education students from lower social class backgrounds tend to have poorer health than those from higher social class backgrounds. To investigate sleep as a potential mediator of this relationship, online survey responses of students from five large Australian universities, one Irish university and one large Australian technical college were analysed in three studies (Study 1 N = 628; Study 2 N = 376; Study 3 N = 446). The results revealed that sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep disturbances, pre-sleep worries and sleep schedule variability mediated the relationship between social class and physical and mental health. Sleep remained a significant mediator when controlling for related variables and other mediators. Thus, the findings suggest that sleep partly explains social class differences in health. We discuss the importance of addressing sleep issues among students from lower social class backgrounds.     

Associations Between Sleep Hygiene and Insomnia Severity in College Students: Cross-Sectional and Prospective Analyses

Although a small number of studies characterized cross-sectional associations between sleep hygiene and insomnia severity, no prior study has examined their relationships prospectively. Further, the relationship between sleep hygiene and insomnia severity among college students has rarely been examined. This study examined the prevalence of diverse sleep hygiene behaviors and their associations with insomnia severity in two independent samples of college students from a cross-sectional (N = 548; mean age = 19; 59% female; 71% White) and a two-wave short-term prospective (N = 157; mean age = 19; 71% female; 76% White) study. A total of 12% to 13% of students reported clinically significant insomnia. On average, students reported frequent engagement in inconsistent sleep-wake schedules and lounging and worrying/thinking about important matters in the bed. Improper sleep scheduling, behaviors that promote arousal near bedtime, and uncomfortable sleeping environments were positively associated with cross-sectional insomnia severity. After controlling for other well-established risk factors, only improper sleep scheduling remained significant. Prospectively, baseline improper sleep scheduling predicted insomnia severity at a 2-month follow-up after controlling for baseline insomnia severity and other well-established risk factors. Together, findings suggest a potential unique role of improper sleep scheduling in insomnia among college students.