1. Psych 201, Lecture 16:
Weakness of Will

2. Reminders Exam 2 is next Wednesday! Review sessions (all optional)
3/30, bring maroon scantron and pencil
Review sessions (all optional)
In class, Monday 3/28, 4pm
With Allie and Suzanne, Tuesday 3/27, 12:30pm, location TBA
Topic review sheet sent last week

3. Outline What is willpower? How important is willpower?
Examples of weakness of the will
Temporal Discounting
Addiction
Components of willpower
Strategies to overcome weakness of the will

4. What is willpower?
Intentionally behaving in a way that is in line with one’s ultimate goals when tempted to do otherwise.

5. Behaviors associated with the most common causes of death (USA)
Cardiovascular disease
Cancers
Strokes
Chronic lung disease
Accidents
Diabetes
Pneumonia and influenza
Alzheimer’s Disease
Kidney disease
Septicemia
Suicide
Chronic liver disease (cirrhosis)

6. Importance of Willpower
Weakness of the will (i.e., giving into temptation) can be very bad
“…most major problems, personal and social, center on failure of self-control: compulsive spending and borrowing, impulsive violence, underachievement in school, procrastination at work, alcohol and drug abuse, unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, chronic anxiety, explosive anger…losing friends, being fired, getting divorced, winding up in prison...” Baumeister & Tierney (2011)
Temptations are very common (smartphone study):
~25% of waking life spent resisting temptations
Most common everyday desires: to eat, sleep, relax, sex
Temptations getting more common

7. Importance of Willpower
Happiness

8. What is the relationship between failures of self-control and happiness?
Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. (Oscar Wilde)
Capacity for joy admits temptation. (Elizabeth Browning)
Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again. (Robert Heinlein)

9. What is the relationship between failures of self-control and happiness?
Every impulse that we strive to strangle broods in the mind and poisons us. (Oscar Wilde)
Capacity for joy admits temptation. (Elizabeth Browning)
Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again. (Robert Heinlein)
You only live once. (Drake)

10. Importance of Willpower
Willpower can be very good for happiness in the long term:
Relationships
-conscientiousness and long-term relationships
-physical attractiveness
-exercise/eat healthy
Purpose
-morality
-wealth
-academic
-creativity (“Genius is patience;” 10,000 hour rule)
Autonomy/Liberty
-less likely to go to jail
-less likely to have substance abuse problem
-live unassisted for longer

11. Outline What is willpower? How important is willpower?
Examples of weakness of the will
Temporal Discounting
Addiction
Components of willpower
Strategies to overcome weakness of the will

12. Assume no change in your income or purchasing power of $100
Intertemporal Choice
The study of the relative value people assign to two or more rewards at different time points.
$99 now or $100 in a year?
Assume no change in your income or purchasing power of $100

13. Intertemporal Choice
The study of the relative value people assign to two or more rewards at different time points.
$40 now or $100 in a year?

14. Intertemporal Choice
The study of the relative value people assign to two or more rewards at different time points.
$40 now or $100 in ten years?

15. Temporal Discounting – The devaluation of anticipated outcomes as a function of their anticipated delay
$100 in a year worth about $40 today.

16. Intertemporal choice in a pigeon…

18. Immediate

19. Delay
Immediate

20. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
10 grains, immediately

21. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
9 grains, immediately

22. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
9 grains, immediately

23. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
8 grains, immediately

24. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
8 grains, immediately

25. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
1 grain, immediately

26. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
1 grain, immediately

27. 10 grains,
After 2 sec
7 grains, immediately

28. ≈ 7 grains, immediately 10 grains, After 2 sec
Not rationally calculated; evolved mechanism?

29. Outline What is willpower/Importance of Willpower
How important is willpower?
Temporal Discounting
Addiction
Components of willpower
Strategies to overcome self-control problems

30. DSM Criteria for substance dependence
What is Addiction?
DSM Criteria for substance dependence
Tolerance
Withdrawal
Taking more than intended
Unsuccessful efforts to cut down
A lot of time devoted to the substance
Giving up other things
Continued use despite adverse consequences

31. Opponent Process Theory and Addiction
Recall…
Hedonic contrast: Experiencing hedonic change when stimulus presented (“A process”), followed by opposite change (“B process”).
Hedonic habituation: Over repeated exposure, reduced hedonic change to stimulus.
Hedonic withdrawal: Over time, emergence of a long-lasting, high-amplitude
after-reaction that is opposite to the original hedonic change.

32. Opponent Process Theory and Addiction
First few experiences
After many
Pos
affect
Neg
affect
Pos
affect
Neg
affect

33. Opponent Process Theory and Addiction
First few experiences
After many
Pos
affect
Neg
affect
Pos
affect
Neg
affect

34. How prevalent is addiction?

37. How heritable is addiction?
Smoking heritability
Sullivan PF, Kendler KS. The genetic epidemiology of smoking. Nicotine Tobacco Res. 1999;1:S51-S57.

38. Addiction Problems Common in College http://www. usc

39. Outline What is willpower/Importance of Willpower
How important is willpower?
Examples of weakness of will:
Temporal Discounting
Addiction
Components of willpower:
Delay of gratification
Motivation
Ability
Strategies to overcome self-control problems

40. We all start out demanding immediate gratification

41. Delay of Gratification: The Marshmallow Test
Walter Mischel
Place ONE marshmallow in front of four year old. Child can eat it any time.
If child waits long enough (~15 min) he or she gets TWO marshmallows.
Majority don’t wait.

42. Video

43. Correlations between Delay Times and SAT Scores
Traditional Marshmallow Test
Exposed
SAT verbal
SAT quantitative

44. Correlations between Delay Times and SAT Scores
Traditional Marshmallow Test
Exposed
SAT verbal *
SAT quantitative **
Stronger predictor than IQ

45. Components of Willpower
Licking marshmallow is clever, but bad idea.
Distraction is a better idea.
Why?

46. Components of Willpower
Licking marshmallow is clever, but bad idea.
Increases temptation/reduces motivation
But what would happen if option was one marshmallow now or Toys R’ Us shopping spree in 15 minutes?
Component 1: Motivation

47. Component 1: Motivation
Is a function of immediate value of goal and expectancy of reaching goal.
Immediate value of getting two marshmallows in 15 minutes.
Ooh I’d love to have two of these!
Expectancy of getting two marshmallows in 15 minutes if you wait.
(0:03 – 2:41)

48. Components of Willpower
Distraction seems to be helpful.
Reduces temptation
Component 2: Ability

49. Component 2: Ability Capacity Willpower as a limited resource
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Capacity
Willpower as a limited resource
(Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998)

50. Component 2: Ability Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice (1998)
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice (1998)
Three conditions
Radish (over chocolates) eating condition (self-control)
Cookie eating condition (less self-control)
Control condition (no self-control)

51. Component 2: Ability DV: Persistence task (unsolvable puzzles)
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Condition Time Attempted (min)
Radish
Cookie
Control
DV: Persistence task (unsolvable puzzles)

52. Component 2: Ability DV: Persistence task
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Condition Time Attempted (min)
Radish
Cookie
Control
DV: Persistence task

53. Component 2: Ability DV: Persistence task
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Condition Time Attempted (min)
Radish
Cookie
Control
DV: Persistence task

54. Component 2: Ability Can the willpower muscle be strengthened?
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Can the willpower muscle be strengthened?
Muraven, Baumeister, &Tice (1999)
Two week study
Four Conditions
1.Good posture
2.Regulate emotions
3.Intricate food diary
4.Control
DVs
Handgrip task

55. Component 2: Ability Can the willpower muscle be strengthened?
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Can the willpower muscle be strengthened?
Muraven, Baumeister, &Tice (1999)
Two week study
Conditions
1.Good posture
2.Regulate emotions
3.Intricate food diary
4.Control

56. Component 2: Ability Can the willpower muscle be strengthened?
Roy Baumeister
Component 2: Ability
Can the willpower muscle be strengthened?
Muraven, Baumeister &Tice (1999)
Two week study
Conditions
1.Good posture
2.Regulate emotions
3.Intricate food diary
4.Control

57. Outline What is willpower/Importance of Willpower
Examples of weakness of the will
Temporal Discounting
Addiction
Components of willpower
Strategies to overcome self-control problems

58. Combat Temptation
Recall…
Hot / cold empathy gap – People in a cold state mispredict how they will behave when in a hot state. People tend to overestimate the strength of their own willpower and/or underestimate the influence of the hot state.
Sexual decision-making (Ariely & Loewenstein, 2006)

59. Combat Temptation
Precommitment – Secure current preferences against future expected temptation by eliminating the future temptation.

60. Combat Temptation
Precommitment -- Secure current preferences against future expected temptation by eliminating the future temptation.
Don’t buy television
Gastric bypass
Antabuse
Block websites (stayfocusd.com)

61. Increase Motivation
-Side contract

63. Increase Motivation Side contract (e.g., www.stickk.com)
Making resolutions in public
Better goal setting
Set concrete and difficult goals
“Do your best” results in not doing your best.
Breakup large goals into smaller sub-goals
Keep track of accomplished goals

64. Improve Ability Increase mind control Strengthen willpower muscle
Meditation (even short term)
Seems to improve mind control. Not entirely sure why.
Strengthen willpower muscle
In same or different domains of life
Just keep practicing

65. Reminders Exam 2 is next Wednesday! Review sessions (all optional)
3/30, bring maroon scantron and pencil
Review sessions (all optional)
In class, Monday 3/28, 4pm
With Allie and Suzanne, Tuesday 3/27, 12:30pm, location TBA
Topic review sheet sent last week