Why you should stop pumping willpower

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Scientific research proves that willpower is an overrated quality that does not affect success in life.

For a long time, the most strong-willed and collected aroused the envy of those who easily succumb to temptations. It was believed that high self-control and outstanding willpower were associated with each other and lead to inevitable success. However, the idea that people hold back impulsive impulses and resist temptation through an effort of will has become a myth.

Scientific tests prove that these concepts do not correlate with each other and do not necessarily lead to success.

Willpower and self-control are not the same

There are two ways to measure your self-control level. The first is to take a questionnaire of statements like “I’m good at resisting temptations” or “I’m bad at keeping secrets,” and agree with them or refute them. This is a simple method that estimates the potential for success in life fairly accurately.

Michael Inzlicht, a psychologist at the University of Toronto who studies self-control, believes that people with the highest score on the questionnaire do not overeat, study better, and are generally happier. An analysis of the answers of 32,648 respondents, conducted in 2012, showed that there is indeed a connection between success in life and high scores on the test.

The second way to measure your level of self-control is to conduct a behavioral test. In a classic study, psychologist Roy Baumeister challenged subjects to resist the smell of freshly baked cookies.

Psychologists today use puzzles based on cognitive conflict. The participants in the experiment need to use willpower to solve them. For example, the essence of a popular puzzle based on the experiments of psychologist John Ridley Stroop is that the subject is shown the names of colors colored in a different color: blue, red, yellow. The task is to name the color with which the word is painted, ignoring what is written.

For many years, Michael Inzlicht believed that the self-control questionnaire measured the same as the behavioral tests of willpower. It turned out not. He and his colleagues conducted both tests on 2,400 people and realized that there was no connection between them. People could claim to be easy to resist temptation and still fail to cope with puzzles.

Self-control is not a skill

In 2011, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology published the results of the study Everyday temptations: an experience sampling study of desire, conflict, and self-control, conducted among 205 people over seven days. Participants in the experiment were given phones, randomly asking them about the desires and temptations that the subjects might be experiencing at the moment, as well as self-control.

A week later, scientists came to unexpected conclusions: those who, by their own admissions, had the best self-control skills, in principle, experienced fewer temptations. In other words, those who are most in control of themselves rarely have to control themselves at all.

Michael Inzlicht and Marina Milyavskaya confirmed and extended this idea by conducting the same experiment with 159 students at McGill University in Canada. It turned out that high academic performance at the end of the semester was demonstrated not by those who managed to control themselves better, but by those who experienced fewer temptations. Moreover, the more the students tried to restrain themselves, the more tired they felt. They did not achieve what they wanted, but only exhausted themselves with efforts.

How people with a high level of self-control differ from the rest

So who are these people that you can't get through with freshly baked cookies? They have a lot to learn. The researchers suggest taking note of the following facts.

1. They enjoy activities that most of us avoid

Eating healthy, learning or exercising is not a burden for self-controllers, but a pleasant pastime. They know the difference between "want" and "must" and follow the goals they want to achieve.

If you hate running, but you need to get in shape, you are unlikely to last long on the treadmill. Pick something you really like.

2. They have healthier habits

In 2015, psychologists Brian Galla and Angela Duckworth published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology the results of More than resisting temptation: Beneficial habits mediate the relationship between self-control and positive life outcomes of a large-scale study, during which more than 2,000 participants took six tests. It turns out that those who easily avoid temptation also have a ton of good habits: they exercise regularly, eat healthy foods, sleep well, and study well.

“Self-controlled people arrange life in such a way as to initially avoid situations in which you need to control yourself,” says Brian Galla. Structuring life is a skill.

People who do the same thing at the same time - like running or meditating - reach their goals faster. Not because they are in control of themselves, but because they have set up their schedule that way. It's all about planning.

The famous marshmallow test performed by Walter Michel in the 1960s and 1970s confirms this. In the experiment, children were asked to eat one marshmallow now or wait a little and get another one. Children who managed to sit out and wait for the second treat did not necessarily resist temptation well. They just used strategic thinking better.

In 2014, the New Yorker magazine wrote that during the test, children were forced to change their attitude towards the treat lying in front of them in order to cope with the temptation. They found a way not to look at the treat or imagine that something else was lying in front of them.

3. Some are simply less tempted

Our character is partly dependent on genes. Some of us love to eat, others love to gamble or go shopping. High consciousness is a character trait that is also inherited. Its owners study diligently and monitor their health. They were just lucky: they won the genetic lottery.

4. It is easier for the wealthy to control themselves

Children from poor families have much less control over themselves when taking the marshmallow test. There is a reason for this. Elliot Berkman, a scientist at the University of Oregon, believes that people raised in poverty focus more on immediate rewards than long-term ones, because when you are poor, the future looks uncertain.

Anyone who has gone on a diet at least once knows that willpower does not work in the long run. In addition, a lack of self-control is often confused with moral collapse. We believe that weak willpower prevents us from losing weight, although it's all about genetics and our calorie-laden diets. We blame addicts for not knowing the measure, although they are not able to control themselves.

You can use willpower to, for example, not return to a bad habit. But relying on it alone to achieve your goals is like relying on the handbrake when driving. You should focus on what propels you towards your goal, and not fight against obstacles that arise along the way. Willpower sometimes works in such a way that you, on the contrary, lose.

It's time to acknowledge that an obsessive focus on self-control is holding us back from looking for methods that actually lead to success.