Description of the Strategy

The term self-control has been most often employed, within the domain of behavior modification, to describe varied forms of self-guided treatment that seek to alter the probability of habitual, preferred, or readily reinforced behaviors, thoughts, or emotional responses when their long-range consequences are at odds with their immediate effects (that is, when they involve conflicting contingencies). Mechanisms underlying self-directed habit change include the systematic (re)deployment of attentional resources (e.g., focusing on the frequency of one's self-defeating actions and/or their consequences), realistic goal setting, nondefensive appraisal of perceived discrepancies between desired and current states, verbal self-instructional skills, and the self-administration of positive or negative consequences. Change instigated via selfimposed treatments is expected to persist over time, not because varied self-control ...