Date of Award

5-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Patrick D. Converse, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Lisa A. Steelman, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Jessica L. Wildman, Ph.D.

Fourth Advisor

Heidi Hatfield Edwards, Ph.D.

Abstract

Self-control dilemmas, typically defined as an internal conflict between short-term allurements and long-term goals, are a common feature of everyday life. How such dilemmas are handled is often viewed as a measure of one’s self-control, thus carrying significant implications for an individual. Despite a large body of research that has been amassed on this topic, a complete picture of how self-control dilemmas are processed and resolved still eludes us. In the present research, we bring attention to a largely unexplored aspect of self-control, the role of self-concept in shaping self-control efforts. We combined surveys, hypothetical scenarios, and experience sampling data across four studies (one pilot study and three focal studies) to investigate the role self-concept plays in the unfolding of self-control dilemmas, focusing on how self-concept shapes the experience of conflict and triggers the self-conscious emotions associated with that conflict. We found that self-concept influences goal importance and temptation strength when both are in the same self-concept domain, and, through goals and temptations, indirectly shapes the experience of conflict in self-control dilemmas. We further found that the influence of self-concept extends to self-conscious emotions, which often accompany self-control successes and failures. When goals and temptations were associated with different self-concept domains, results were mixed, suggesting that this area could benefit from further research. Overall, the finding that self-concept is implicated in self-control dilemmas suggests that further research in this area could be beneficial in informing our understanding of self-control processes in general.

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