The four ingredients of effective self-regulation - Chapter 8 and 11

The four ingredients to self-regulation

• WHAT

• WHAT

• WHAT

• WHAT

The four ingredients to self-regulation

• Standards

• Monitoring

• Capacity

• Motivation

Standards

• Ideas about how things WHAT or WHAT. Goals, laws, moral principles, personal rules, others' expectations, social norms.

Standards

• Ideas about how things SHOULD or SHOULD NOT BE. Goals, laws, moral principles, personal rules, others' expectations, social norms.

Monitoring

• Keeping WHAT of the behaviour being WHAT. You cannot correct what you are not watching.

Monitoring

• Keeping TRACK of the behaviour being REGULATED. You cannot correct what you are not watching.

Capacity

• The WHAT to actually operate on yourself. The folk term is WHAT; the research term is regulatory WHAT.

Capacity

• The ENERGY to actually operate on yourself. The folk term is WILLPOWER; the research term is regulatory STRENGTH.

Motivation

• WHAT about reaching the goal. Everything else can be in place and regulation still WHAT here.

Motivation

• CARING about reaching the goal. Everything else can be in place and regulation still FAILS here.

Self-regulation means change relative to an WHAT. Remove the idea and change becomes WHAT.

Self-regulation means change relative to an IDEA. Remove the idea and change becomes DIRECTIONLESS.

Standards come from many WHAT: personal goals, laws, moral principles, social norms, others' expectations.

Standards come from many PLACES: personal goals, laws, moral principles, social norms, others' expectations.

Dieting example:

• a weight target is one standard. Effective dieters add subordinate ones about portions and permitted foods.

Vague standards are nearly as bad as WHAT ones. "Eat better" gives monitoring nothing to WHAT. "No food after eight" does.

Vague standards are nearly as bad as ABSENT ones. "Eat better" gives monitoring nothing to CHECK. "No food after eight" does.

Goal-setting is not busywork. A client without a specified standard has nothing to WHAT toward.

Goal-setting is not busywork. A client without a specified standard has nothing to REGULATE toward.

The thermostat model

• Carver and Scheier noticed something odd in self-awareness research: people do not notice WHAT the way they notice a WHAT.

The thermostat model

• Carver and Scheier noticed something odd in self-awareness research: people do not notice THEMSELVES the way they notice a TREE.

The thermostat model

• Self-awareness almost always involves WHAT. At the mirror you are not thinking "there I am." You are checking whether your hair is a mess.

The thermostat model

• Self-awareness almost always involves COMPARISON. At the mirror you are not thinking "there I am." You are checking whether your hair is a mess.

The thermostat model

• Their proposal: comparison exists because it enables WHAT. Notice the WHAT; close it.

The thermostat model

• Their proposal: comparison exists because it enables REGULATION. Notice the DISCREPANCY; close it.

• The thermostat: read the room, compare to the setting, act if they differ, re-check, stop when they match. Students track grades; athletes track times.

The thermostat model

• WHAT is a real mechanism. Dieters stop counting once they break a diet, and the lapse in tracking contributes to eating more. WHAT degrades self-tracking.

The thermostat model

• MONITORING FAILURE is a real mechanism. Dieters stop counting once they break a diet, and the lapse in tracking contributes to eating more. ALCOHOL degrades self-tracking.

The thermostat model

• People feel good about WHAT of progress, not only WHAT. That is why WHAT projects feel worse than WHAT ones.

The thermostat model

• People feel good about RATE of progress, not only ARRIVAL. That is why STALLED projects feel worse than DISTANT ones.

The capacity to change

• In effective self-regulation people operate on WHAT. The popular word is willpower, which implies some expended energy.

• Psychologists borrow folk terms reluctantly, because the connotations come along for the ride. Here it means, narrowly, the energy involved in WHAT oneself.

• The chapter is clear that this capacity is not WHAT

The capacity to change

• In effective self-regulation people operate on THEMSELVES. The popular word is willpower, which implies some expended energy.

• Psychologists borrow folk terms reluctantly, because the connotations come along for the ride. Here it means, narrowly, the energy involved in CHANGING oneself.

• The chapter is clear that this capacity is not UNLIMITED

Motivation

• Specifically, motivation to reach the WHAT — which in practice is motivation to WHAT the self.

• Standards can be clear, monitoring fully effective, and resources abundant, and a person can still fail simply by not WHAT enough about the outcome.

• Motivation is one ingredient among WHAT, not the whole story. Treating it as the whole story is the WHAT

Motivation

• Specifically, motivation to reach the GOAL — which in practice is motivation to REGULATE the self.

• Standards can be clear, monitoring fully effective, and resources abundant, and a person can still fail simply by not CARING enough about the outcome.

• Motivation is one ingredient among FOUR, not the whole story. Treating it as the whole story is the STANDARD ERROR