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Hypo‐Egoic Self‐Regulation: Exercising Self‐Control by Diminishing the Influence of the Self
Author(s) -
Leary Mark R.,
Adams Claire E.,
Tate Eleanor B.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of personality
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.082
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1467-6494
pISSN - 0022-3506
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00429.x
Subject(s) - concreteness , psychology , self control , mindset , mindfulness , social psychology , control (management) , ego depletion , interoception , self , meditation , rumination , cognitive psychology , psychotherapist , neuroscience , philosophy , perception , management , theology , epistemology , economics , cognition
Theory and research dealing with self‐regulation have focused primarily on instances of self‐regulation that involve high levels of self‐reflection and effortful self‐control. However, intentionally trying to control one's behavior sometimes reduces the likelihood of achieving one's goals. This article examines the process of hypo‐egoic self‐regulation in which people relinquish deliberate, conscious control over their own behavior so that they will respond more naturally, spontaneously, or automatically. An examination of spontaneously occurring hypo‐egoic states (such as flow, deindividuation, and transcendence) suggests that hypo‐egoic states are characterized by lowered self‐awareness and/or an increase in concrete and present‐focused self‐thoughts. In light of this, people may intentionally foster hypo‐egoism via two pathways—(a) taking steps to reduce the proportion of time that they are self‐aware (such as repeating a behavior until it is automatic or practicing meditation) or (b) increasing the concreteness of their self‐thoughts (such as inducing a concrete mindset or practicing mindfulness). In this way, people may deliberately choose to regulate hypo‐egoically when effortful control might be detrimental to their performance.