Self-Control Depletion and the General Theory of Crime

• NCJ Number: 215721
• Journal: Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 22 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2006 Pages: 263-277
• Author(s): Mark Muraven; Greg Pogarsky; Dikla Shmueli
• Date Published: September 2006
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 DA 016131
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the theory of self-control depletion in which exercising self-control resulted in impaired future self-control (self-control failure).

Abstract

Results indicated that participants with low trait self-control were significantly more likely to violate the rules of the experiment than their counterparts with higher trait self-control. Instructing a random subset of participants to retype a paragraph without pressing the e or space bar increased the chances that the participants would cheat on a subsequent task. Overall, the findings suggest that individuals have a certain amount of trait self-control that influences their proneness to self-control failure. In a given situation, their self-control resources may be depleted, resulting in self-control failure. Previous research has suggested that the exercise of self-control results in self-control depletion. This model of self-control depicts self-control as a muscle that can be worn out. The authors tested this theory of self-control depletion by administering a computer-driven experiment to 102 psychology students. Students were randomly assigned to one of two conditions in which they either had to type a paragraph normally (Type All group) or type a paragraph while not pressing the e or space bar (No Es group). The No Es condition was an effort to tax the participants’ self-control. Participants completed the Brief Mood Introspection Scale following this portion of the experiment. Next, participants were instructed to solve three logic puzzles from the Graduate Record Exam that had been altered to be unsolvable. After the 3 minute time limit, participants were instructed to indicate how many questions they solved in order to test the rule violations of working past the time limit and lying about the number of problems they reported solving. In the last portion of the experiment, participants completed a self-control scale and provided demographic information. Data were analyzed using Ordinary Least Squares regression models. Future research should continue to probe the generality of criminological self-control theory. Tables, footnotes, appendix, references