Public Studies

This study attempts to show a relationship from childhood behavior to adult behavior.

Shy children generally stayed shy, but “hyper or outgoing” children calmed down to an “average” level in adulthood.

To get an initial idea of the preschoolers’ personalities, the researchers surveyed both guardians and teachers when the children were ages 4, 5 and 6. Based on the observations of their teachers and guardians, the children were identified as having one of three personality types: over-controlled, under-controlled or resilient. Over-controlled equates to shy, under-controlled equates to “impulsive”, and resilient shows a “good” balance between the two. The parents were given questionnaires every year after the initial survey until the children were age 10, and then again at ages 12, 17, and 23.

Children labeled as over-controlled generally remain over-controlled through adulthood. Children who were labeled as under-controlled gained some self control over the years, and children who were labeled as resilient generally remained that way. One factor that may help the children develop normally is a part-time job during their teen years, according to Dennissen. He and his colleagues found that such work experience led to lower levels of aggressiveness among both the over-controlled and under-controlled kids. With the early job experience, teens learn some of the basic life’s rules, such as that aggression is met without reward, Dennissen explains.

• Parental behavior likely should have played a part in the study, but it’s generally similar results would indicate that may not be a factor.
• This study validates the belief that working “temp” jobs as a youth increases one’s social skills.

To determine if willpower can be modified, and how other behaviors effect the strength of the participants willpower.

The participants who either worked to train their “willpower”, or who expended little willpower are more likely to have impulse control and resist temptation. Willpower was discovered to be like a “gas tank” that can increase in capacity as an individual exercises willpower.

The study tested three theories on self-control. One theory treats self-control as a cognitive process, one as a learned skill and another as a behavior that requires willpower. Through a series of experiments with 800 participants, Baumeister used the theories to investigate the levels of energy required for exercising self-control and resisting temptationIn one of the experiments, participants who had skipped a meal were tempted with freshly baked cookies and chocolates. Some participants were instructed to resist the treats and instead eat radishes. They were then asked to complete an unsolvable geometric puzzle. In another experiment participants were instructed to control their emotional responses–by stifling or amplifying their reactions–as they viewed an upsetting video.

Those who resisted the treats tended to give up faster on the puzzle than participants who were allowed to indulge in the temptation or who had not been tempted with any food. Baumeister believes that they gave up faster because they’d already expended energy exercising self-control. A similar pattern emerged in the other experiment in which participants were instructed to control their emotional responses–by stifling or amplifying their reactions–as they viewed an upsetting video. The researchers then gauged their physical stamina by testing how long they could squeeze a handgrip device. Participants who controlled their emotions tended to give up faster on the task compared with those who did not have to suppress or control their emotions while watching the video.

[+] This study has been peer reviewed by the American Psychological Association and Florida State University.
[-] The first study’s results may be due to the lack of glucose provided by radishes that could lead to giving up on the puzzles sooner, as the brain uses glucose as a primary source of fuel.