What is it about?
Academic research often frames impatience as a result of our impulses and patience as a sign of self-control. We trace this connection back to a 1970s explanation of why we fail to control ourselves: we overvalue rewards (food, fun activities, money) that are immediately available (impulses) compared to those arriving as little as a day later. Such a pattern can leave us failing to ever reach better rewards. While a compelling story, we argue that impulsivity can drive us in the opposite direction and that self-control is much broader. For example, someone used to investing and saving to secure a better life will often find themselves struggling to enjoy the moment, feeling the impulse to save enjoyment for later. Self-control enables us to continue our commitment to goals, even if that becomes difficult. One may commit to being more altruistic, for instance, but failing to give money to someone in need often has little to do with the immediacy of other rewards.
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Why is it important?
When we study impulsivity and self-control as strictly with time-related concepts, it severely limits our understanding of how these processes impact our lives. A more holistic look at what types of impulses people struggle with and what goals are most difficult to maintain will enable actionable, well-rounded recommendations to help people get what is important to them.
Perspectives
This article has been a longstanding passion project for me. As an academic, you always have projects you care about because it has personal significance; this is one of those. I started working on this as the first project in my PhD, but due to its nuance, my collaborators and I have spent four years refining it. Specifically, we tried to make it convincing but also relatable. As such, I hope this article makes people rethink what impulsivity and self-control mean to them. Hopefully, people will want to add to the debate or apply new ideas this article helped create to their research or policymaking.
Simon van Baal
University of Leeds
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Impulsivity and self-control as timeless concepts: A conceptual analysis of intertemporal choice., Decision, February 2025, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/dec0000257.
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