Building Strength

There is some evidence that it possible to improve self-control through practice as well. That is, just as physical exercise fatigue muscles and leads to poorer performance in the short-term, exerting self-control decreases self-control capacity temporarily. However, in the long-term, physical exercise, when tempered with rest, leads to greater strength. Research on self-control strength has found a similar effect: When participants practiced self-control for several weeks, they performed better than participants who did not practice self-control. Research on this provocative idea is ongoing.

There may be ways to accelerate the recovery of self-control strength as well. Depleted individuals who experience a positive mood perform better than depleted individuals whose mood is neutral or negative. We are exploring other means of recovering lost self-control strength.