Pitting long-term goals against short-term desires is among the most difficult tasks in human decision-making. According to behavioural and neuroeconomic theories of self-regulation, these decisions involve a competition between “hot” reward-focused impulses and “cool” cognitive control mechanisms. The current dissertation examines this topic from the perspective of social and personality neuroscience, exploring the cognitive and affective dynamics underlying the self-regulatory process. Chapters 1 and 2 explore how the “hot” system is dispositionally expressed in the personality trait of Extraversion, and the implications of this finding for decision-making behaviour. Turning to the “cool” system, Chapter 3 examines the role of effective performance monitoring in predicting real-world self-regulatory outcomes. Finally, Chapter 4 addresses the question of whether self-regulatory performance can be improved, reporting the effects of a goal-setting intervention on long-term decision-making. Results across the studies are discussed within an integrative model of self-regulation, situated within a social-personality neuroscience framework.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between language skills and the development of executive functions in a normative preschool population over a 3 year period. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine models of individual change and correlates of change in the growth of 7 executive skills in a sample of 39 children ages 3 to 5. Results of the analyses revealed significant positive linear growth trajectories over time for 5 of the 7 executive skills measured (p < .05). Maturation alone accounted for a significant amount of variance in nonverbal working memory (Block Span, Stanford Binet-5th Edition (SB-5)) and problem solving skills (Tower, NEPSY). Growth in verbal working memory (Memory for Sentences, SB-5) was predicted uniquely by initial receptive vocabulary (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test–3rd Edition) and oral language (Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language) skills, even after considering age. Language variables did not predict rate of change in the 6 other executive skills measured. Thus, the pattern of results extends previous cross-sectional research by documenting that executive skills grow systematically with age in individual children during the preschool period. Furthermore, results suggest that during the preschool years, language ability is an important predictor of growth in working memory for verbal information—a capacity associated both theoretically and empirically with the transition from other- to self-regulation in early childhood. Findings are discussed in relationship to the literature on school readiness and the development of self-regulation. Implications for future research and practice are also suggested.

Pitting long-term goals against short-term desires is among the most difficult tasks in human decision-making. According to behavioural and neuroeconomic theories of self-regulation, these decisions involve a competition between “hot” reward-focused impulses and “cool” cognitive control mechanisms. The current dissertation examines this topic from the perspective of social and personality neuroscience, exploring the cognitive and affective dynamics underlying the self-regulatory process. Chapters 1 and 2 explore how the “hot” system is dispositionally expressed in the personality trait of Extraversion, and the implications of this finding for decision-making behaviour. Turning to the “cool” system, Chapter 3 examines the role of effective performance monitoring in predicting real-world self-regulatory outcomes. Finally, Chapter 4 addresses the question of whether self-regulatory performance can be improved, reporting the effects of a goal-setting intervention on long-term decision-making. Results across the studies are discussed within an integrative model of self-regulation, situated within a social-personality neuroscience framework.

Self-regulation capacity allows individuals to manage their thoughts, feelings, and actions to attain personal goals (e.g., well-being and performance), as well as adjust to their changing social and physical environment (Zimmerman, 2000). Self-regulation as a positive adaptive skill and process has not been examined in relation to well-being in the context of medicine. The purpose of the current study was to examine self-regulation with 37 medical students and 25 supervising physicians to determine whether or not it may enhance well-being and performance, and reduce stress and burnout. A mixed-methods design was used to collect and analyze the data, and findings from the quantitative and qualitative phases were presented in two separate articles. Self-regulation capacity appears to be an important skill that may help both physicians and medical students to meet the demands of the medical profession and maintain an adequate level of well-being and performance in their work and daily life.

Traumatic events have the capability to alter people’s psychological, biological, and social functioning to a significant degree (van der Kolk & McFarlane, 1996). As a result, there has been a growing need to develop increasingly more sophisticated models to understand the complexities of people’s responses to trauma (Luxenberg & Levin, 2004). Undergraduate students (N = 391) completed surveys designed to measure past trauma, trauma-related symptoms, self-regulation, executive functioning, and coping abilities. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a modified version of the Early Trauma Inventory Self-Report – Short Form (ETISR-SF; Bremner, Vermetten, & Masure, 2000), the Trauma Symptom Inventory – Alternate Form (TSI-A; Briere, 1995), the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX; Wilson, Alderman, Burgess, Emslie, & Evans, 1996), the Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ; Brown, Miller, & Lawendowski, 1999), and the Coping Resources Inventory for Stress – Short Form (CRIS-SF; Curlette & Matheny, 2008). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was utilized to simultaneously assess the relationships between variables. On average, participants reported experiencing 2.5 non-interpersonal traumatic events and 3.5 interpersonal traumatic events. Results revealed that overall, self-regulation, executive functioning, and tension control were important mediating variables in the relation between experiencing a trauma and resulting symptoms. Implications for clinicians working with individuals who experienced trauma and implications for future research are discussed.

Why are people unable to adhere to an exercise program? Adhering to an exercise program is complex, and exercisers struggle with a variety of challenges that require self-regulation (e. g. , making time, learning skills, changing behaviour). Bandura (1995b) has deemed the assessment of self-regulatory efficacy to manage the regular performance of health behaviours (e. g. , exercise) essential. Despite this recommendation, few components of self-regulation have been examined in the exercise and self-efficacy research to date (McAuley & Mihalko, 1998). Furthermore, major reviews of the exercise-related self-efficacy literature have demonstrated that task self-efficacy has been the predominant operationalization of the self-efficacy construct, and barriers self-efficacy has been the most prevalent operationalization of self-regulatory efficacy (Culos-Reed, Gyurcsik, & Brawley, 2001; McAuley & Mihalko, 1998). However, self-regulation of behaviour involves more than managing barriers and overcoming their limitations (Barone, Maddux, & Snyder, 1997; Brawley, 2005; DuCharme & Brawley, 1995). In order to examine other aspects of self-regulatory efficacy, self-efficacy theory was used as the underpinning for the three studies in this dissertation (Bandura, 1986, 1997). <br /><br /> In Study One an expanded operationalization of exercise-related self-regulatory efficacy was investigated. The construction of various self-regulatory efficacy indices was informed by self-regulation frameworks (Barone et al. , 1997; Baumeister et al. , 1994). These indices as well as barriers efficacy were used to prospectively predict self-reported exercise behaviour. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that the expanded self-regulatory efficacy variables (i. e. , scheduling, relapse prevention, goal-setting self-efficacy) explained a significant amount of variance in exercise behaviour. In addition, barriers efficacy also contributed significant, but modest, variance to the model. These results underscore McAuley and Mihalko?s (1998) recommendation that multiple measures of self-efficacy should be used to examine exercise behaviour. The findings also emphasize that a focus solely on barriers as the indicant of self-regulatory efficacy in exercise may be overlooking other aspects of the construct that contribute to prediction. <br /><br /> Study Two extended the descriptive findings of the first study and addressed a recognized research need (Dzewaltowski, 1994; McAuley & Blissmer, 2000; McAuley et al. , 2001). Specifically, this study examined the possibility of individual differences (i. e. , optimism, consideration of future consequences) influencing the relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and exercise behaviour. Results indicated that participants higher in optimism reported significantly greater self-regulatory efficacy and exercise intentions for intensity than did those lower in optimism. In addition, participants higher in consideration of future consequences (CFC) reported greater self-regulatory efficacy and exercise attendance than participants with moderate CFC. Finally, CFC significantly moderated the influence of various indices self-regulatory efficacy on subsequent exercise attendance. However the effect upon the prospective relationship was modest. <br /><br /> Whereas the first two studies examined the predictive relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and exercise behaviour, Study Three focused upon the influence of sources of self-regulatory efficacy in strengthening efficacy beliefs. This investigation concerned the effects of an acute manipulation of self-efficacy information in changing self-regulatory self-efficacy within a special population -- cardiac rehabilitation exercise program participants. According to theory, sources of self-efficacy information are common to task and self-regulatory efficacy (Bandura, 1997). <br /><br /> The study used a 2 (message condition) by 2 (time) design in which cardiac rehabilitation program participants were randomly assigned to conditions. Utilizing a written message employing the self-efficacy sources of verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences, self-regulatory efficacy for the scheduling of <em>independent</em> exercise was targeted within an ?efficacy enhancing? condition. This condition was compared to an ?information control? message of other information relevant to cardiac rehabilitation participants. As hypothesized, the efficacy-enhancing condition exhibited increased scheduling self-efficacy compared to the control condition. As well, exercise-related cognitions (i. e. , intentions for frequency, action plans, behavioural commitment to learning about independent exercise) were superior for the efficacy-enhancing condition participants compared to their control conditioncounterparts. <br /><br /> Taken together, the studies support and extend research on self-regulatory efficacy in the exercise domain. In part, this was accomplished by expanding the operationalization of exercise-related self-regulatory efficacy to represent more components of self-regulation than examined in the exercise literature to date. In addition, these studies extend previous descriptive research by examining the potential moderators of the influence of self-regulatory efficacy on exercise behaviour. Finally, the third study represented one of the first efforts to experimentally manipulate determinants of self-regulatory efficacy for independent exercise in a special population. It supported the hypothesis that informational determinants (i. e. , vicarious experience, verbal persuasion) can be acutely manipulated to increase self-regulatory efficacy among cardiac rehabilitation participants.

<p>Despite the considerable influence of situational factors and the resulting variability in behavior, individuals maintain stable average ways of acting. The purpose of the studies presented in this paper was to investigate one possible explanation of this trait stability. It is hypothesized that contra-trait behaviors, those that are different from typical trait levels, demand more effort, or self-control, than do trait-typical behaviors. In Study 1, participants reported on the trait content of their behavior along with several other variables. In Study 2, participants completed several tasks in the lab and were instructed to act at contra-trait or trait-typical levels of conscientiousness. Support for the contra-trait effort hypothesis was found in Study 1: Participants reported that contra-trait behavior was more effortful than trait-typical behavior. In addition, habitual contra-trait behaviors, which do not require self-control, were exempt from this effect. In Study 2, no support was found for contra-trait hypotheses: Participants generally did not rate contra-trait behaviors as more effortful, and subsequent behaviors were not affected by contra-trait behaviors. The implications of the findings and the possible explanations of the non-findings are discussed.</p> / Dissertation

<p>One-hundred and seventy-seven high-school students and two-hundred responded to a survey assessing their motivation (goal orientations, expectancies, and values), self-regulation (cognitive, behavior, and emotion), learning processes, academic behaviors, and grades in the favorite and least favorite classes. First, multiple pathways to academic success were examined by comparing how motivation leads to academic outcomes (learning processes, academic behaviors, and grades) via self-regulation in high school and college by using structural equation modeling. As expected, the findings support the stance that there are different ways to achieve academic success. Surprisingly, emotion regulation mediated the relations between motivation and learning processes in favorite classes. Additionally, combinations of self-regulation were examined separately for type of class (favorite/least favorite) and age group (high school/college) using latent class analyses. As expected, these regulatory profiles mediated the relations between motivation and academic outcomes, found with structural equation modeling. Interestingly, students in the attention regulation profile, who were high on attention but low on other regulatory capacities, performed lower than those who tend to be high regulators. However, those who were members in the emotion regulator profile did not differ from high regulators. Behavior regulation was a mediator for college students but not high school students. The findings underscore the importance of considering cognitive, behavior, and emotion regulation in considering the relations between motivation to academic outcomes.</p> / Dissertation

<p>I present a framework that describes how perceived discrepancies from an ideal, or hoped-for, self influence how people view and behave with products associated with identity attainment (i.e., "symbolic props"). In the first half of this framework, I demonstrate that individuals who perceive that they are more discrepant from their aspired identity (i.e., more aspirationally discrepant individuals) view symbolic props as more "instrumental," or useful, in helping them achieve identity goals. I demonstrate that this effect is egocentric, mediated by motivation, and only occurs when the perceived rate of progress toward one's aspirational goals is high enough to merit engagement toward the goal. In the second half of the framework, I show that for more aspirationally discrepant individuals, the use of symbolic props may actually limit effort on goal-relevant tasks. These studies suggest an ironic effect whereby aspirational discrepancy may lead to acquisition of goal-relevant props to the detriment of performance-relevant effort.</p> / Dissertation

<p>The present research tested whether the lower educational achievement and greater incidence of parenthood among Latino relative to Anglo high school students arise from differences across ethnic groups in the standards held for these behaviors and whether these different standards and differential success across groups at meeting them contribute to ethnic group differences in self-esteem. I tested this regulatory model in two different research designs. In the first study, I used longitudinal data on race/ethnicity and attitudes, expectations, and behavioral outcomes for education and parenthood from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health, Udry, 2003). In the second study, I used an experimental design to test the causal mechanisms involved in this regulatory process. I assessed Anglo and Latina adolescent girls' standards in terms of explicit self-report ratings and then prompted them to imagine themselves in scenarios related to education or parenthood. After participants viewed the scenarios, I assessed their self-esteem and affect. In both studies, I anticipated that ethnic group differences in standards for education and parenting would help explain differences in behavioral outcomes for the groups, along with differences in ethnic group affect and self-esteem. These studies provided some evidence that Anglos espouse more favorable attitudes toward education and less favorable attitudes toward adolescent pregnancy than Latinos. As anticipated, adolescents experienced increases in self-esteem and positive affect when they acted in ways that confirmed valued standards.</p> / Dissertation