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| author | Karina P. Russ |
| title | The Importance of Framing: Maintaining Self-Control through Motivation |
| abstract |
Self-control is defined as overriding behaviors, emotions, and desires that interfere with an individuals current goals (Muraven, Shmueli & Burkley, 2006). There is a
large body of literature that demonstrates that self-control resources are reduced after completing one or more self-control demanding acts (a phenomenon known as ego
depletion; Beedie & Lane, 2011). Although most studies have attributed the observed ego depletion effects to the claim that self-control is a limited resource
(Muraven, Tice & Baumeister, 1998), recent research raises questions about the nature of self-control (Beedie & Lane, 2011; Job, Dweck & Walton, 2010).
Instead, there is reason to believe that the observed depletion effects might really be a reflection of a shift in motivation, as described by the Process Model of
Self-Control (Inzlicht & Schmeichel, 2012). This study explores whether motivation introduced before the first depleting task will also prevent a reduction in
performance on a second task, possibly by reducing self-licensing effects, using a two-by-two between-participants design. After a motivation manipulation in which
participants were told that the first task is very important for understanding the cognitive processes behind Alzheimers disease, they completed a Stroop test and an
anagram task, both requiring self-control. A significant main-effect of motivation indicated that participants that were motivated on the first task persisted longer on
the second task. The Stroop main effect and the motivation-Stroop interaction were not significant. In support of the process model, the results indicate that the framing
of a task as important predicts the ability of individuals to continue exhibiting self-control without ego-depletion effects. The impact of framing was not limited to
self-control performance on the first task but also impacted persistence on the second, unrelated task. Findings from this study shed light onto the nature of self-control
and the role of motivation.
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| school | The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University |
| degree | B.A. (May 2014) |
| advisor | Jessica Lakin |
| committee | Sandra Jamieson
James Carter
Patrick Dolan |
| full text | KPRuss.pdf |
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