Download Self-Regulation

Social Cognitive View
Integrates Social Learning
and Cognitive Theories
• Reciprocal determinism
• Self-regulation
• Expectancy values & self-efficacy
Reciprocal Determinism
• Behaviorism
Environment
Person
• Social learning theory
Person
Environment-1 Environment-2 Environment-3
Person
Environment
Self-Regulation
• Delay of gratification
• Emotion regulation
• Limitations of self-regulation
Delay of gratification
• Children are given the choice:
– Small reward now
– Large reward later
• How long can children can wait?
• What strategies are used?
Delay of Gratification as Predictor
• Delay of gratification at age four can predict
competence in adolescence:
–
–
–
–
social competence
cognitive competence
scholastic achievement (SAT)
coping with frustration
• What is DOG based on?
– Impulse inhibition?
– General intelligence?
Strategies for Delay of Gratification
Waiting is easy if ...
• … reward is hidden
• … you think distracting thoughts
• … you think of physical aspects of non-reward
(think of a pretzel while waiting for a cookie)
• … you see only a picture of the reward:
– Waiting is easy if real reward is imagined as picture
– Waiting is difficult if picture is imagined as real
• Regulation of Attention seems to be central!
Emotion Regulation
Definition:
• Any process that increases,
decreases or modifies emotions
• Relevant for any aspect of emotion
- Experience
- Behavior
- Physiology
• Can be conscious or unconscious.
Possible points of regulation:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Situation selection
Situation modification
Attention direction
Cognitions / attributions
Modulating responses
– Experience
– Behavior
– Physiology
Comparison Between Strategies
for Emotion Regulation (Gross)
Suppression
1. reducing expressive behavior:
2. “control your expression so that nobody
could tell what you are feeling”
Reappraisal
1. cognitive reframing
2. “think about the situation in a way that
reduces the emotion”
Success of Different Strategies
• Both strategies reduce expressive
behavior
• Reappraisal reduces the experience
of negative emotion
• Suppression increases physiological
responding
Limitations of Self-Regulation
Baumeister: “Strength” model of self-regulation
• Self-regulation requires effort
• Capacity for self-regulation is a limited
resource
• High demands on self-regulation will be
followed by a period of reduced capacity
Evidence for the “Strength” model of
self-regulation:
• Regulating emotional response to an
upsetting film resulted in reduced
hand-grip strength afterward
• Trying to ‘not think about a white
bear” led to:
– reduced persistence at solving anagrams
afterward
– poorer suppression of amusement during
a funny film afterwards