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Too much of a good thing? Exploring the inverted‐U relationship between self‐control and happiness
Author(s) -
Wiese Christopher W.,
Tay Louis,
Duckworth Angela L.,
D’Mello Sidney,
Kuykendall Lauren,
Hofmann Wilhelm,
Baumeister Roy F.,
Vohs Kathleen D.
Publication year - 2018
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/jopy.12322
Subject(s) - happiness , psychology , self control , control (management) , social psychology , self report study , self , demographics , developmental psychology , demography , management , sociology , economics
Objective Can having too much self‐control make people unhappy? Researchers have increasingly questioned the unilateral goodness of self‐control and proposed that it is beneficial only up to a certain point, after which it becomes detrimental. The little empirical research on the issue shows mixed results. Hence, we tested whether a curvilinear relationship between self‐control and subjective well‐being exists. Method We used multiple metrics (questionnaires, behavioral ratings), sources (self‐report, other‐report), and methods (cross‐sectional measurement, dayreconstruction method, experience sampling method) across six studies ( N total = 5,318). Results We found that self‐control positively predicted subjective well‐being (cognitive and affective), but there was little evidence for an inverted U‐shaped curve. The results held after statistically controlling for demographics and other psychological confounds. Conclusion Our main finding is that self‐control enhances subjective well‐being with little to no apparent downside of too much self‐control.