The role of anticipated emotions in self-control: linking self-control and the anticipatory ability to engage emotions associated with upcoming events

Self-control is typically attributed to “cold” cognitive control mechanisms that top-down influence “hot” affective impulses or emotions. In this study we tested an alternative view, assuming that self-control also rests on the ability to anticipate emotions directed toward future consequences. Usin...

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Veröffentlicht in:Frontiers in psychology Jg. 14; S. 1152155
Hauptverfasser: Kruschwitz, Johann D., Goschke, Thomas, Ahmed Mohamed Ali, Elkhansa, Kraehe, Anne-Carolin, Korb, Franziska Maria, Walter, Henrik
Format: Journal Article
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 08.01.2024
Schlagworte:
anticipated emotions
dual system view
emotion regulation
Psychology
self-control
volitional control
self-control
emotion regulation
anticipated emotions
dual system view
volitional control
ISSN:1664-1078, 1664-1078
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Zusammenfassung:Self-control is typically attributed to “cold” cognitive control mechanisms that top-down influence “hot” affective impulses or emotions. In this study we tested an alternative view, assuming that self-control also rests on the ability to anticipate emotions directed toward future consequences. Using a behavioral within-subject design including an emotion regulation task measuring the ability to voluntarily engage anticipated emotions towards an upcoming event and a self-control task in which subjects were confronted with a variety of everyday conflict situations, we examined the relationship between self-control and anticipated emotions. We found that those individuals ( n  = 33 healthy individuals from the general population) who were better able to engage anticipated emotions to an upcoming event showed stronger levels of self-control in situations where it was necessary to resist short-term temptations or to endure short-term aversions to achieve long-term goals. This finding suggests that anticipated emotions may play a functional role in self-control-relevant deliberations with respect to possible future consequences and are not only inhibited top-down as implied by “dual system” views on self-control.
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Reviewed by: Kesong Hu, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, United States; Xu Li, Central China Normal University, China
These authors have contributed equally to this work
Edited by: Thomas M. Schlösser, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Germany
ISSN:1664-1078
1664-1078
DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1152155