Social norms

There are also self-control strategies that are easier when someone else implements them for us. One of these is when outside forces encourage us to ascribe to new social norms: the researchers give the example of an electricity company showing its customers how their energy usage compares to their neighbours’, which might prompt them to be more eco-conscious.

Situational constraints

The final self-control strategy also relies on external forces. Policymakers will often use situational constraints to change people’s behaviour – from incentives (such as offering tax rebates for eco-friendly building materials) to penalties (e.g. raising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol).

George Lowenstein of Carnegie Mellon University says that this research is important, because it underscores the fact that we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if we can’t break a habit – or make a new one – on willpower alone.

One of the reasons people often fail in their New Year’s resolutions is “naivety about the limitations of the brute-force approach and ignorance of the far more effective strategies enumerated in the review,” he observes.

Why self-control actually has little to do with willpower