Perspectives on Self-Control

Perspective can help us to deepen our understanding of the of truths of the universe. In a call for increased perspective, Neal A. Maxwell says that we should create bridges between the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the behavioral sciences. He said that “some foot bridges have already been built which can be widened into thoroughfares” (Maxwell, 1976). I think that this is the kind of bridge building needed regarding the connection between the perspective of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and psychology. Both sources talk about many of the same principles relating to self-control, and it is quite intuitive to connect these ideas, forming a stronger bridge.

One bridge between the science and the spiritual relates to our ability to make choices that require self-control. In President Nelson’s talk, “Protect the Spiritual Power Line,” he quotes Heber J. Grant who said that “that which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” Similarly, Roy Baumeister, one of the leading social psychologists on self-control, asserts that self-control is like a muscle, and that successfully making choices that require the exercise of self-control increases one’s ability to make future choices involving self-regulation (Baumeister, Gailliot, DeWall, & Oaten, 2006).

Both men declare that consistency leads to a greater power, or ability, to choose. This power of agency, or making correct choices, is described in 2 Nephi 2:16. In this verse, we learn that “the Lord God gave unto man [agency] that he should act for himself” and that “man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other.” Although the behavioral sciences wouldn’t state that “the one or the other” refer to invitations or enticements from God and the devil, they would declare that we are faced with decisions where we either exercise self-control or we give in to our natural desires. If we persist in making righteous choices, we will have greater ability to yield “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit” and put off the natural man (Mosiah 3:19).

Both the behavioral sciences and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ teach us of the negative consequences of consistently making wrong choices that lead to addiction. Baumeister proposes that most personal and social problems we encounter are due to self-control failures (Baumeister, 2003). Social psychology focuses only on the temporal effects of not exercising self-control, while the restored gospel of Jesus Christ widens this perspective to include the eternal effects. The scriptures teach us that Satan and God are both inviting and enticing us to do opposite things. Satan doesn’t want us to increase in self-control so he tempts us to make choices that lead to “captivity and [spiritual] death” instead of “liberty and eternal life.” We are all tempted to yield “to the enticing of him who is seeking to hurl away [our] souls down to everlasting misery and endless wo” instead of yielding “to the enticings of the Holy Spirit” which “inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him” (Helaman 7:16; Moroni 7:13).

In a social psychology experiment, participants sat down at tables that included radishes and chocolates (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998). One group was able to eat the chocolates, but the other group could only eat the radishes. Those that had to resist the temptation to eat the chocolates ended up quitting earlier on a subsequent puzzle task than the group which didn’t have to exercise any self-control. This study supports the reality of ego-depletion, which is the idea that tasks requiring self-control lessen our ability to choose self-control in the immediate future. Although some of Baumeister’s studies talk about the long-term strengthening effect of successfully regulating oneself, he also observes that in the short-term, self-control choices reduce our ability to practice self-regulation.

The radishes experiment is similar to a discussion that Elder Lynn G. Robins has on resisting chocolate chip cookies (Robins, 2013). He explains that it much easier to avoid the chocolate chip cookies than to resist the temptation and urge to eat the cookies. He relates that “it is easier for me not to have the cookies in the house than it is to walk through the front door and smell two dozen of them fresh out of the oven—warm, moist, and smelling good. At that moment I am no longer simply fighting temptation; I am also fighting chemistry. The aroma triggers the pleasure center of my brain. My mouth begins to water in preparation for the cookies. With each tempting breath my resistance grows weaker as my craving grows stronger and my appetite begins to overpower my reason and resolve.” This is why it is better to avoid sin and temptation than place oneself in situations where the exercise of self-control is required. Elder Robins talks about some of the physiological effects involved with resisting temptation, thus bridging the gap between the physical and spiritual. While Elder Robins doesn’t use the word “ego-depletion,” both he and Roy Baumeister are essentially talking about the same concept.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf also helps to create a bridge between the behavioral sciences and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He references a 1960 Stanford study of self-control in four year-old children who were faced with the temptation of eating marshmallows (Uchtdorf, 2010). In this study, the experimenter “placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows. He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.” The professor “kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships.”

The Stanford study demonstrates the importance of learning to exercise self-control and patience. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ confirms this importance and stresses the ability of a person to develop greater self-control. The gospel is all about change. Often the behavioral sciences leave out the principle that people really can change their nature and become more patient and self-controlled as they come unto Christ and repent. Instead of consigning certain groups of people to the fate of not exercising self-control, the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us of the transformative power of His Atonement. During General Conference a few years ago, President Russell M. Nelson explains that “when we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves” (Nelson, 2019).

Another talk from that Conference talks about strengthening the invisible muscles of faith, just like Roy Baumeister talks about strengthening the invisible muscles of willpower. In his talk “Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles,” Elder Juan Villar talks about how the only way for our muscles to grow is to exercise them (Villar 2019). This concept not only applies to our physical body, but also to our spiritual muscles. Dr. Baumeister hypothesizes that self-control is a corollary of physical energy resources in our bodies (Baumeister & Vohs, 2007). However, he is unaware of the actual physical processes involved. Just like we can’t observe faith through an fMRI, science also can’t observe the actual physical representation of self-control. We believe that “all things unto [the Lord] are spiritual” (D&C 29:34) and that “all spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes” (D&C 131:7). So both the behavioral sciences and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ argue that there are physical causes of processes we don’t fully understand yet. This bridge is one that we can’t fully complete yet, but in time we will see that there is matter responsible for exercising spiritual muscles and exercising willpower.

Another bridge for which we would benefit immensely is the bridge between free will and agency. Although Baumeister avoids the bridge between theology and psychology, he explains that “belief in free will is pervasive in human social life and contributes to its benefits. Evolution endowed humans with a new form of action control, which is what people understand by free will” (Baumeister, Sparks, Stillman & Vohs, 2008). Similar to the idea that “evolution endowed humans with…free will” the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ asserts that God endowed humans with agency. This bridge between the source of our ability to choose is normally avoided, but Richard Williams is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a psychologist who has attempted to form this bridge (Williams, 1999). While he has laid some of the groundwork for this bridge, there is much more work required to stabilize these connections.

A final bridge between social psychology and the gospel of Jesus Christ relates to the negative consequences of choosing not to exercise self-control. Science and other disciplines have confirmed the negative consequences of uncontrolled indulgence in areas such as “eating, drinking, spending, sexuality, intelligent thought, making choices, and interpersonal behavior (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007). In his talk, “Self-Control,” Russell M. Nelson also describes the negative consequences of a lack of self-control (Nelson, 1985). As mentioned previously, these choices result in both temporal and spiritual consequences. Both the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the behavioral sciences desire to improve human life by discovering principles that will lead to greater happiness and fulfillment. The bridge in perspectives between these two sources should be embraced in order to accomplish the purpose of achieving greater well-being.

References

1. Baumeister, R. F. (2002). Ego depletion and self-control failure: An energy model and the self’s executive function. Self and Identity, 1, 129–136. doi:10.1080/152988602317319302

2. Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Ego depletion and self-regulation failure: A resource model of self-control. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 27, 281–284. doi:10.1097/01.alc.0000060879.61384.a4

3. Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252–1265. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252

4. Baumeister, R. F., Gailliot, M. T., DeWall, C. N., & Oaten, M. (2006). Self-regulation and personality: How interventions increase regulatory success, and how depletion moderates the effects of traits on behavior. Journal of Personality, 74, 1773–1801. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00428.x

5. Baumeister, R. F., & Heatherton, T. F. (1996). Self-regulation failure: An overview. Psychological Inquiry, 7, 1–15. doi:10.1207/s15327965pli0701_1

6. Baumeister, R. F., Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. (1994). Losing control: How and why people fail at self-regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic.

7. Baumeister, R. F., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (2000). Ego depletion: A resource model of volition, self-regulation, and controlled processing. Social Cognition, 18, 130–150.

8. Baumeister, R. F., Sparks, E. A., Stillman, T. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2008). Free will in consumer behavior: Self-control, ego depletion, and choice. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 18, 4–13. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2007.10.002

9. Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Self-regulation, ego-depletion, and motivation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 115–128. doi:10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00001.x

10. Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Tice, D. M. (2007). The strength model of self-control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 351–355. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00534.x

11. Finkel, E. J., & Campbell, W. K. (2001). Self-control and accommodation in close relationships: An interdependence analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 263–277. doi:10.1037//0022-3514.81.2.263

12. Hofmann, W., Friese, M., & Strack, F. (2009). Impulse and self-control from a dual-systems perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 162–176. doi:10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01116.x

13. Muraven, M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Self-control as a limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 774–789. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.774

14. Stillman, T. F., Tice, D. M., Fincham, F. D., & Lambert, N. M. (2009). The psychological presence of family improves self-control. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 28, 498 –529. doi:10.1521/jscp.2009.28.4.498

15. Vohs, K. D., & Heatherton, T. F. (2000). Self-regulatory failure: A resource-depletion approach. Psychological Science, 11, 249–254. doi:10.1111/1467-9280.00250

16. Alma 38:12

17. “Be Meek and Lowly of Heart,” Ulisses Soares, October 2013 General Conference

18. “Continue in Patience,” Dieter F. Uchtdorf, April 2010 General Conference

19. D&C 25:10

20. Mosiah 3:19

21. “Protect the Spiritual Power Line,” Russell M. Nelson, October 1984 General Conference

22. “Self-Mastery,” Russell M. Nelson, October 1985 General Conference

23. “School Thy Feelings, O My Brother,” Thomas S. Monson, October 2009 General Conference

24. “Shipshape and Bristol Fashion: Be Temple Worthy—in Good Times and Bad Times,” Quentin L. Cook, October 2015 General Conference

25. “Success Is Gauged by Self-Mastery,” N. Eldon Tanner, April 1975 General Conference

26. “The Power of Self-Mastery,” James E. Faust, April 2000 General Conference

27. “The Tugs and Pulls of the World,” Neal A. Maxwell, October 2000 General Conference

28. “To Be in Control,” Royden G. Derrick, Ensign September 1982

29. 2 Nephi 2:16

30. 2 Nephi 2:27

31. “Some Thoughts on the Gospel and the Behavioral Sciences,” Neal A. Maxwell, Ensign, July 1976

32. Helaman 7:16

33. Moroni 7:13

34. “Avoid It,” Lynn G. Robbins, BYU devotional speech, Sep. 2013

35. “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, Apr. 2019

36. “Exercising Our Spiritual Muscles,” Juan Pablo Villar, General Conference, Apr. 2019

37. D&C 29:34

38. D&C 131:7

39. Williams, 1999, "Agency: Philosophical and Spiritual Foundations for Applied Psychology,"