Self-control is contagious

ATHENS, Ga., Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Self-control -- or the lack of it -- is contagious, researchers at the University of Georgia found.

In a series of studies involving hundreds of volunteers, lead author Michelle vanDellen and colleagues found watching or even thinking about someone with good self-control makes others more likely to exert self-control.

The study found the opposite is true as well. The effect is so powerful that seeing the name of someone with good or bad self-control flashing on a screen for 10 milliseconds changed the behavior of volunteers.

In one study, 71 volunteers watched others exert self-control by choosing a carrot from a plate in front of them instead of a cookie from a nearby plate, while others watched people eat the cookies instead of the carrots. The volunteers had no interaction with the tasters other than watching them, yet their performance was altered on a later test of self-control depending on who they were randomly assigned to watch.

In another study, vanDellen randomly assigned 112 volunteers to write about a friend with good self-control, a friend with bad self-control and for a control group, a friend who is moderately extroverted. On a later test of self-control, those who wrote about friends with good self-control did the best, while those who wrote about friends with bad self-control did the worst.

The findings are published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.