A content analysis of views of self-control: relation to positive and negative valence, and implications for a working definition.

It has been argued that one important variable that hampers research on self-control strategies is the absence of a working definition of self-control. Part of the difficulty involves the ambiguous and self-reflexive nature of the term itself, and part of the difficulty involves tautological imprecision equating the construct and definition of self-control with the effects of a self-control strategy. In order to begin to bring order to what has heretofore been a linguistic morass, an effort was made to assess individuals' views of self-control and then to perform a content analysis of the different aspects and dimensions actually embedded within these views. This study offered partial confirmation for six previously identified dimensions: choice, responsibility, awareness, discipline, skill, and goal. These dimensions provide us with a beginning phenomenological framework for assessing how individuals view self-control, and thereby help refine the position endorsed by Mahoney and Arnkoff (1979) that "self-control is a social label which is differentially applied to some behavior patterns." Further, individuals were requested to list positive and negative aspects of self-control, in order to assess whether, as Mahoney and Arnkoff suggest, self-control is necessarily applied to behavior perceived as (a) being socially appropriate or desirable and (b) originating from noble ideals. The study found that there were both positively and negatively valenced aspects thought to be associated with self-control, and that the mention of a certain dimension of self-control (discipline) was found to be significantly correlated with a specific negatively valenced view (rigidity). The study concludes with implications for developing a working definition of self-control, and with guidelines and suggestions for future research.