What does “being good at self-control” means? Reconceptualizing by dissociating “being good at conflict resolving” from “being good at goal achievement”

Abstract

Individuals usually imagine the future, set goals, make plans, and invest much effort in achieving these goals. However, individuals also often fail to achieve their goals by giving in to temptation. “Being good at self-control” is traditionally assumed to be key in achieving future goals. The present paper aims to clarify what “being good at self-control” means by reviewing psychological research about self-control. We suggest that the concept of “good at self-control” can be organized into two dissociated concepts: (1) “good at conflict resolution,” based on executive function (or cognitive control) and value representation (e.g., temporal discounting, value integration), and (2) “good at goal achievement,” based on value updating (e.g., habituation, goal internalization). We discuss related issues such as socialization or the agentic aspect of self-control, and we suggest avenues for future research on organizing the concept of self-control.