Socially Motivated Self Control

Exercising self control can be remarkably difficult. How much of this difficulty is because individuals are overemphasizing the role that the "self" needs to play in executing it? Across three studies (n = 248 and 10,233 observations), we examined whether construing a self control domain in terms of its social implications improved decision-making. We found that thinking about a specific relationship relevant to the self control domain improved decision-making relative to other relationships, that merely thinking about the social ramifications of one's actions in the self control domain improved decision-making, and that these effects were moderated by the extent to which individuals reported higher levels of relational obligation to those around them. Taken together, these studies suggest that when it comes to self control, turning one's focus away from the self may sometimes lead to more effective outcomes.