People are happier when they believe that willpower is unlimited

Abstract

Researchers have identified a number of factors that predict subjective well-being. Self-control is one of them. In general, higher self-control predicts happier life. Meanwhile, many people believe that self-control draws on “willpower”. People hold different beliefs about willpower. Some suggest that it is a limited resource but others believe that it is unlimited. In this research we investigate this research question: can people’s lay beliefs about willpower predict their psychological well-being? We recruited 363 participants in the United States via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. A questionnaire package including measures of socio-economic background, selfcontrol capacity, implicit theory of willpower and subjective wellbeing was administered. Believing that willpower is unlimited predicts vitality, satisfaction with life and positive affect after controlling for self-control capacity and socio-economic background. Since implicit theory is malleable as compared to many other predictors of well-being (e.g. personality), the current research suggests that it is a potential point of intervention to increase wellbeing.