Topic
Self-regulation research, explained
10 open-access self-regulation studies, each with a flashcard deck and a quiz.
- Why do we put off going to bed?
People who generally struggle with self-control are more likely to delay going to bed, which directly leads to getting less sleep and feeling more tired during the day.
- Does the ability to wait for rewards change across the lifespan?
Middle-aged adults discounted future money the least, children and the oldest adults the most, and at every age people who were more future-oriented were better at waiting for bigger rewards.
- Can a brief imagery-and-planning exercise lower nurses' stress?
Nurses taught a short wish-obstacle-plan exercise reported somewhat less stress and more work engagement three weeks later than nurses who only reflected on stress, although the overall group differences were borderline.
- Do food pictures make it harder to stop yourself from responding?
Food pictures made people respond faster and more automatically regardless of hunger, but how that related to dieting success depended on whether they had just eaten.
- Can a planning exercise help people eat the less meat they intend to?
A short mental contrasting and if-then planning exercise made people's intention to cut meat actually predict how much they cut, which information alone did not.
- Does the "Tools of the Mind" curriculum help kids self-regulate?
The Tools of the Mind curriculum did not improve self-regulation overall, but it did benefit children who started the study with high levels of hyperactivity and inattention.
- Does doubting free will weaken the feeling of controlling your actions?
Reading an essay arguing that free will is an illusion reduced people's implicit sense of causing their own actions' effects, but not their conscious judgments of control.
- Does resisting temptations all day make us go to bed late?
People who reported resisting more temptations during the day also reported putting off going to bed more that night, though the link was small.
- Does time management fuel nursing students’ innovation?
In 763 undergraduate nursing students, time-management scores predicted innovative behavior both directly (effect 0.263) and through academic self-efficacy and flow (total mediation 62.9%).
- Do tidy or messy spaces help self-control and creativity?
A tidy room helped only low-self-control students persist longer at holding their breath, while a messy scene boosted creativity only for high-self-control students.