Key to willpower lies in believing you have it in abundance

WASHINGTON: People who believe they have an abundant supply of self-control are more likely to feel invigorated by mentally taxing activities than people who believe their willpower is a finite resource, according to a study.
Researchers believe that the secret to having ironclad willpower lies in believing that you have an unlimited supply of it.

“What matters most is what we think about our willpower,” said Christopher Napolitano, from the University of Illinois in the US.

“When we view our willpower as limited, it’s similar to a muscle that gets tired and needs rest,” Napolitano said.

“If we believe it is a finite resource, we act that way, feeling exhausted and needing breaks between demanding mental tasks, while people who view their willpower as a limitless resource get energised instead,” he said.

More than 1,100 Americans and 1,600 Europeans, including 775 Swiss and 871 German-speaking adults, participated in the study, which tested the validity of a widely used psychological assessment tool called the Implicit Theory of Willpower for Strenuous Mental Activities Scale (ITW-M).

The researchers sought to test whether the ITW-M measured the concept of willpower consistently across sexes and different cultures.

The participants’ scores on the ITW-M questionnaire were compared with their scores on similar assessments that explored their beliefs about intelligence, life satisfaction and trait self-control, which relates to their ability to rein in their impulses.

The data indicated that the ITW-M had strong invariance between men and women.

“Your feelings about your willpower affect the way you behave – but these feelings are changeable,” Napolitano said.

“Changing your beliefs about the nature of your self-control can have positive effects on development, leading to healthier behaviours and perceptions of others,” he said.