Experts in psychology and behavioral economics tend to believe that we’re our own worst enemy when it comes to sticking with intentions to eat better, exercise more and spend less time staring at our cellphones.
If you’re trying to eat less fast food, for example, the experts tend to say that, rather than relying on your willpower every time you pass a McDonalds drive-through, you should just plan ahead by packing a lunch or keeping a healthy snack nearby. But are those kinds of strategies really a substitute for willpower?
According to a recent study led by Zachary Irving, an experimental philosopher with the University of Virginia’s College of Arts & Sciences, they aren’t. Once you look past the terminology experts use when they talk about how we regulate our own behavior, Irving argues, there is no self-control without good old-fashioned willpower.
Scientists typically describe self-control – the means by which we overcome our deep-rooted desires for immediate gratification in favor of long-term and more abstract goals like having a thinner waistline or spending more quality time with family – as two different psychological processes.
One kind of self-control, known as synchronic regulation, is what we think of as willpower and is what happens when we willfully and effortfully resist a temptation. Another kind of self-control, known as diachronic regulation, involves making a rational effort to change our environment in a way that makes willpower unnecessary.
To understand the difference, imagine that you want to spend less time on social media. You might use willpower to force yourself not to peek at your feed every time the impulse grabs you. Or you might use diachronic regulation and just delete Facebook and Instagram from your phone, so you don’t have to be tempted.