The relationships between procrastination, self-regulation, and fatigue were assessed. Previous researchers have suggested that procrastination is positively related to fatigue (Gropel&Steel, 2008), and that the use of self-regulation results in higher levels of fatigue (Muraven, Tice,&Baumeister, 1998). In the present study, I proposed that self-regulation is the mechanism underlying the relationship between procrastination and fatigue. Undergraduate students (N=110) first completed an in-lab questionnaire, then completed 15 online questionnaires per week for three weeks. The online questionnaires assessed sleeping and waking habits, along with reports of state fatigue. Procrastination was assessed through the time spent putting off getting out of bed each morning. Participants were split into two groups, and the experimental group was instructed to use an alarm clock without a snooze button during Week 2. Three findings were of interest. First, in contrast to global, self-reported behavior, aggregated measures of daily self-reported procrastination indicated a positive relationship with trait measures of procrastination, suggesting that global self-reports of behavior delay should be interpreted with caution. Second, trait procrastination was found to be a significant predictor of the amount of time spent delaying getting out of bed in the morning; however, the amount of time spent delaying getting out of bed in the morning was not predictive of subjective morning or afternoon fatigue. Finally, partial support was provided for a relationship between trait procrastination and state fatigue after accounting for other variables which have been shown to predict state subjective fatigue (e.g., neuroticism and anxiety; Ackerman, Kanfer,&Wolman, 2008). Based on these findings, I suggest that a stronger relationship exists between procrastination and fatigue at the trait level than the state level, and the state-level relationship may operate through a mechanism other than self-regulation.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, Clinical Psychology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Notre Dame, 2003. / Thesis directed by Julia M. Braungart-Rieker for the Department of Psychology. "December 2003." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 73-80).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 120-135).

<p>The current study assessed the relationship between licensing and self-control maintenance. Previous research on licensing has found mixed results for the effect of perceived progress on goal pursuit. Some studies find evidence that progress increases commitment and motivation to a goal, making licensing less likely, whereas other studies have found that progress leads to coasting and feelings of earned licensing. Previous work on managing food consumption has demonstrated that using a mental budget in tandem with a salient avoidance goal is an effective means of monitoring and limiting overindulgence. The current study used a mixed event-contingent and fixed-interval experience sampling design to examine the role of licensing in the eating domain and its effect on goal pursuit. Participants in the experimental condition were prompted with personalized commitment devices each day to assess if they promoted goal pursuit and appropriate licensing. We found that licensing occurs infrequently, but when it does occur, goal progress and goal commitment increase. The use of commitment device has little impact on licensing or goal pursuit.</p> / Dissertation

This qualitative study explored the process of recovery from alcoholism as experienced by individuals who recovered from alcoholism without formal treatment or intervention. This study sought to reveal those factors that initiated recovery and those that maintained and supported it, including some of the strategies and skills used by respondents in self-resolution of their alcoholism. Limitations of the study are discussed, as are the requirements for future studies of natural recovery. It is hoped that understanding some of the natural processes involved in recovery from alcoholism may lead to developing more informed and creative treatment approaches which will harness the strengths, knowledges and abilities of individuals. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 participants and their families across a broad range of age, gender, race and socio-economic status. Participants were selected from those individuals who responded to an article in the daily newspapers in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal. South Africa and who fitted the criteria of being alcoholics who had achieved two or more years of sobriety without formal treatment. This study seemed to indicate that natural recovery was the preferred choice of some individuals struggling with an alcohol problem. This choice appeared to have been made because of negative associations with and perceptions of treatment, combined with a belief in the individual's ability to solve their own problems. Reasons for stopping varied, but seemed to be underpinned by a process of cognitive self-evaluation that precipitated abstinence. Maintenance of sobriety was achieved by a variety of skill s, strategies and processes that corresponded, in the main, with similar international studies. There appears to be a strong relationship with spirituality in all stages of the natural recovery process. Finally. it appeared that individuals who possess a variety of personal and social resources appeared to be best suited to and equipped for the natural recovery process, although some exceptions were noted. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

The present study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of systematic desensitization and cognitive self-control training procedures in reducing anger arousal, overt hostility, and aggression; and their effectiveness in increasing constructive action in therapists conducting counselling interviews with child abusers. Thirty graduate social work students who indicated that they sometimes become at least mildly angry toward parents or caretakers who physically abuse children participated in the study. The students who volunteered for the study were randomly assigned to three treatment conditions in a pretest/posttest control group design. Anger was aroused experimentally in the subjects using laboratory provocations which consisted of six imaginal interviews with abusive and non-abusive parents. The imaginal interviews were conducted in a language laboratory using an automatically synchronized slide-tape program. The systematic desensitization and cognitive self-control treatments consisted of two one-hour training sessions administered within the same week. / The criterion measures employed in the experimental study included (a) Reaction Inventory (Evans & Stangeland, 1971), (b) Buss-Durkee Hostility Inventory (factor analytic version--Bendig, 1962), (c) Hostility Scale Applicable to Verbal Samples (Gottschalk, Winget, & Gleser, 1969), (d) Self-Report Rating of Anger Scale (Novaco, 1975), (e) Self-Report Rating of Aggression Scale (Novaco, 1975), and (f) Self-Report Rating of Constructive Action Scale (Novaco, 1975). / Analysis of covariance of the experimental data indicated no statistically significant treatment differences on any of the six dependent measures. Although statistical significance was not achieved, the pre-treatment and post-treatment means showed changes in the desired direction on the six dependent measures for the systematic desensitization treatment group. The cognitive self-control treatment group means showed changes in the desired direction on five of the dependent measures. / The empirical results were discussed with reference to theoretical concepts of anger arousal, and the research literature on experimental studies of training procedures relevant to anger control.

In the health psychology literature there has been a proliferation of research linking forms of self-attention to psychological distress, especially to depression. The broad conclusion that self-attention is harmful, however, challenges the central premise of self-regulation theory - a theory detailing the role of self-attention as the engine of an adaptive regulating system that enables people to achieve their goals. In an attempt to reconcile these perspectives, I conducted two studies to distinguish the forms and states of self-attention that serve an adaptive self-regulation function from those that create a vulnerability to depression. Both studies included a pretest and a daily diary component. Participants were pretested on trait self-attention, trait negative affectivity (Study 1), depression (Study 2), and a goal inventory. Study 2 included a follow-up session where participants again completed the depression inventory. For the diary component, participants described and rated the most negative event they experienced during the rating period (twice daily for 2 weeks in Study 1; once daily for 4 weeks in Study 2). Diary self-report measures of self-attention included: level of rumination (Study 1), initial self-analysis (Study 2), and multi-day-protracted attention (Study 2). After the diaries were completed, participants' event descriptions were coded for goal-relevance and level of self-focused attention (SFA). Consistent with self-regulation theory, participants' goal-related events elicited stronger self-attentional responses (higher levels of SFA, rumination, initial self-analysis, and protracted attention) than did their goal-unrelated events. These within-person effects were not moderated by the pretest measures, nor did they predict levels of emotional distress. Thus, in daily life it appears to be typical and not harmful for people to respond to goal-setbacks by engaging in elevated levels of introspection, self-analysis, and even negative, symptom-focused rumination. With respect to individual differences, people higher in pretest rumination and in chronic daily rumination, initial self-analysis and protracted attention experienced higher levels of emotional distress. Chronic daily levels of initial self-analysis and rumination predicted emotional distress after controlling for pretest levels of distress. Thus, self-attention appears to create a vulnerability to depression only when people have chronic difficulty containing initial levels of self-analysis and rumination in response to negative events.

Retaliation is a well-established response to abusive supervision. Leading edge research explains the occurrence of supervisor-directed retaliation through processes associated with the strength model of self-control (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007). The present research builds on these ideas by considering the role of emotions in the retaliatory processes. 407 participants completed an online survey that included questionnaires measuring personality traits associated with self-control and emotional experiences. Findings indicate that a predisposition to negative emotional experiences predicts retaliatory behavior in response to abusive supervision, even for individuals with a high capacity for self-control. It is suggested that future research should determine whether emotion-driven retaliation is mediated by a desire for revenge.

Can our sense of smell influence our ability to self-regulate? The following thesis examined whether or not olfactory cues could influence a cognitive measure of self-regulation, and whether this effect would be moderated by goals. Further, it was proposed that emotion would mediate the relationship between scents and self-regulation. A total of 127 participants took part in the study. Magazine covers were used to prime either health or indulgence goals and participants were exposed to either an appetitive scent (baking cookies) or a non-appetitive scent (lavender) with the aim of creating emotional conflict. Self-regulation was measured by performance on a Stroop task. Goals were found to interact with scent type in order to yield differing impacts on self-regulation, however, the predicted mediating effects of emotion were unsupported. / None