This paper is based on Mx. Burkins’s undergraduate honors thesis in psychology. They are now a Ph.D. student at the University of New Hampshire, Durham.
This research shows that Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software can identify important aspects of self-control and suggests that lay people inaccurately may believe that prevention focus on security is more useful for self-control than promotion focus on growth is. We analyzed descriptions of self-control (N = 362) and compared them with descriptions of pursuing hopes or duties (N = 1048), which are promotion and prevention-focused goals, respectively. Descriptions of self-control frequently mentioned common temptations and aspects of (meta)cognitive processes. They also showed evidence of extremely high authenticity, which may be crucial for successful self-control. Additionally, analyses of word categories and self-reported need satisfaction in the experiences participants described showed more and larger differences between self-control and pursuing hopes (promotion) than between self-control and pursuing duties (prevention). We discuss directions for future research about the role of authenticity in effective self-control and whether, when, and how being in a prevention focus (vs. promotion focus) is more effective for engaging in self-control.
An advance online copy of the paper is available here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666518223000128?via%3Dihub