Longitudinal improvement of self-regulation through practice: Building self-control strength through repeated exercise

This study examined the results of repeated exercises of self-control in re lation to self-regulatory strength over time. A sample of 69 U.S. college s tudents spent 2 weeks doing 1 of 3 self-control exercises: monitoring and i mproving posture, regulating mood, or monitoring and recording eating. Comp ared with a no-exercise control group, the participants who performed the s elf-control exercises showed significant improvement in self-regulatory cap acity as measured by quitting faster on a hand-grip exercise task following a thought-suppression exercise.