So what is the secret of
effective self-control? According to psychologist David DeSteno (“A Feeling of
Control: How America Can Finally Learn to Deal With Its Impulses”), the
first step would be to recognize that relying on mere willpower or cognitive
control may not be the best strategy. These resources are easily depleted, and
we have an almost limitless capacity to invent rationalizations for various
lapses. Instead, we need to recognize the role of pro-social emotions like compassion
and gratitude. As he and others have demonstrated, such “moral sentiments” can
increase one’s capacity to resist unhealthy temptations by 12 percent or perhaps
more. And how can we acquire such affective aptitudes? According to DeSteno, it
can be taught “fairly easily.”
Here are the experimental
findings De Steno cites to prove his case: in his lab, “the simple act of
reflecting on some memory that evoked gratitude was enough to enhance financial
patience.” Other researchers have similarly established that “empathy
and compassion are similarly easy to enhance.” So “teaching people to
think of their emotions as tools would allow them to ramp up beneficial
emotions” when most needed. And if this is done on a mass scale, we could
successfully “conquer
the temptation to favor short-term pleasures—from relatively minor ones like
overeating and cheating to global ones like favoring immediate profit over the
long-term mitigation of climate change.” Why, why
are our new philosopher-kings so childishly naïve much of the time?
