Synopses & Reviews
Review
"In a fast-developing field with profound implications for understanding and intervening in human behavior, an up-to-date, go-to resource is invaluable. Vohs and Baumeister are eminent scientists who provide exactly that with this volume. Clinicians, prevention specialists, policymakers, and scholars will all find this book a wise and highly useful reference on an essential aspect of human nature."--Thomas Joiner, PhD, Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Florida State University
"It is difficult to imagine how someone could be a researcher in the field of self-regulation, or a serious student of the topic, without owning a copy of this book. Vohs and Baumeister have assembled an impressive range of contributors. Each chapter presents an authoritative viewpoint from leading researchers in the field, and all of the chapters make enjoyable and useful reading. The second edition is particularly timely because of the recent, rapid upsurge of knowledge about the relationship between brain function and self-regulation. This new knowledge is represented not just in specialized chapters devoted to the topic, but throughout the volume, as almost every contributor brings recent advances in cognitive neuroscience to bear."--David C. Funder, PhD, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
"After reviewing available texts for a doctoral graduate course in cognitive and affective processes, I selected the Vohs and Baumeister text, as I found it to be comprehensive, applied, and current. Students have found that the contributing authors present the material in a manner relevant to everyday life as well as clinical application."--Tim F. Branaman, PhD, Professor of Clinical Psychology, Texas School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University, Dallas
Review
"Baumeister and Vohs have assembled an impressive who's who' of researchers in the field of self-regulation. Presented is state-of-the art, scholarly, and creative work that examines the topic from cognitive, neuroscientific, social learning, developmental, and a variety of other perspectives. The
Handbook gives equal attention to basic theory and practical applications, speaking to questions ranging from the nature of the self to the ways we control sexual behavior, eating, and alcohol use. This volume is a basic and necessary resource for anyone who plans to do research on self-regulation or who wishes to understand the current state of knowledge in the field."--David Funder, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
"Self-regulation is an important ingredient of human behavior and social interactions, yet it is also a topic that generates considerable theoretical and methodological disagreements. This volume is particularly valuable in its inclusion of the full range of perspectives on self-regulation, covering both theoretical and applied aspects. Readers will not only gain an appreciation of different issues and ways to think about them, they will also learn what is new and exciting about the study of self-regulation. I highly recommend this book as a resource for researchers and a useful text for advanced undergraduate- and graduate-level seminars."--Claire B. Kopp, PhD, The Berger Institute for Work, Families and Children, Claremont McKenna College
"The field of self-regulation ranges across topics in psychopathology, social and personality psychology, development, cognition, and now, neuroscience. This handbook captures both the breadth and depth of the field, offering valuable and integrative chapters that illustrate how people regulate their thoughts, emotions, and actions--and, as well, how these processes of self-regulation break down."--Daniel M. Wegner, PhD, Department of Psychology, Harvard University
"The study of self-regulation has blossomed into one of the most fruitful approaches to understanding affective, cognitive, and behavioral processes. Now, thanks to Baumeister and Vohs, we have an exquisitely comprehensive handbook on the topic. Authors include many of the important current contributors to the field. The volume's accessibility makes it a good candidate for text use, while at the same time, its thoroughness promises to make it a standard reference. A clear standout among the many handbooks currently shouting for shelf space."--Abraham Tesser, PhD, Institute for Behavioral Research, University of Georgia
"The most complete work to date on social-cognitive theories of self-regulation. Chapters present innovative research on such topics as intentions, self-control, and coping, within specific theoretical frameworks that can be compared and contrasted. Moreover, the Handbook is unique in its emphasis on linkages among social-cognitive research and developmental, neurological, and clinical phenomena. The Handbook's thematic focus on social-cognitive theories, coupled with its integrative extensions and applications of the research, make this a resource that is sure to be of lasting value to the field."--Richard Ryan, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Rochester
Synopsis
This authoritative handbook comprehensively examines the conscious and nonconscious processes by which people regulate their thoughts, emotions, attention, behavior, and impulses. Individual differences in self-regulatory capacities are explored, as are developmental pathways. The volume reviews how self-regulation shapes, and is shaped by, social relationships. Failures of self-regulation are also addressed, in chapters on addictions, overeating, compulsive spending, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Wherever possible, contributors identify implications of the research for helping people enhance their self-regulatory capacities and pursue desired goals.
Synopsis
Bringing together a stellar array of self-regulation researchers, this comprehensive and authoritative handbook addresses the breadth of current theories, findings, and practical applications in the field. Examined are the conscious and nonconscious processes by which people regulate their thoughts, emotions, attention, impulses or appetites, and task performances; the developmental trajectories of these capacities; and implications for personal relationships, addictions, consumption, and mental health. The ways individuals differ in their basic abilities and styles of self-control are considered, as are strategies for enhancing functioning in this area. Offering cutting-edge coverage of a key dimension of human experience, the Handbook also identifies important questions for future investigation.
About the Author
Roy F. Baumeister, PhD, holds the Eppes Professorship in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University. He has also taught and conducted research at the University of California at Berkeley, Case Western Reserve University, University of Texas, University of Virginia, the Max-Planck Institute in Munich (Germany), and Stanford's Center for Advanced Study. Dr. Baumeister has contributed nearly 300 professional publications (including 15 books), spanning such topics as self and identity, performance under pressure, self-control, self-esteem, finding meaning in life, sexuality, aggression and violence, suicide, interpersonal processes, social rejection, the need to belong, and human nature. His research on self-regulation has been funded for many years by the National Institute of Mental Health. Kathleen D. Vohs, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. She most recently held the Canada Research Chair in Marketing Science and Consumer Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Vohs has conducted research on self-regulation at the University of Utah and Case Western Reserve University under a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. She has over 60 professional publications that focus on understanding processes related to self-regulation, self-esteem, interpersonal functioning, and bulimic symptomatology. Her research has been extended to the domains of chronic dieting, sexuality, and personal spending and savings.
Table of Contents
I. Basic Regulatory Processes
1. Self-Regulation of Action and Affect, Charles S. Carver and Michael F. Scheier
2. The Self-Regulation of Emotion, Sander L. Koole, Lotte F. van Dillen, and Gal Sheppes
3. Giving In to Temptation: The Emerging Cognitive Neuroscience of Self-Regulatory Failure, Dylan D. Wagner and Todd F. Heatherton
4. Self-Regulatory Strength, Isabelle M. Bauer and Roy F. Baumeister
5. Willpower in a Cognitive Affective Processing System: The Dynamics of Delay of Gratification, Walter Mischel and Ozlem Ayduk
6. Self-Regulation and Behavior Change: Disentangling Behavioral Initiation and Behavioral Maintenance, Alexander J. Rothman, Austin S. Baldwin, Andrew W. Hertel, and Paul T. Fuglestad
II. Cognitive, Physiological, and Neurological Dimensions of Self-Regulation
7. Nonconscious Self-Regulation, or the Automatic Pilot of Human Behavior, Esther K. Papies and Henk Aarts
8. Promotion and Prevention Systems: Regulatory Focus Dynamics within Self-Regulatory Hierarchies, Abigail A. Scholer and E. Tory Higgins
9. Planning Promotes Goal Striving, Peter M. Gollwitzer and Gabriele Oettingen
10. The Reason in Passion: A Social Cognitive Neuroscience Approach to Emotion Regulation, Kateri McRae, Kevin N. Ochsner, and James J. Gross
11. Working Memory and Self-Regulation, Wilhelm Hofmann, Malte Friese, Brandon J. Schmeichel, and Alan D. Baddeley
12. Local and Global Evaluations: Attitudes as Self-Regulatory Guides for Near and Distant Responding, Alison Ledgerwood and Yaacov Trope
13. Identifying and Battling Temptation, Ayelet Fishbach and Benjamin A. Converse
II I. Development of Self-Regulation
14. Effortful Control: Relations with Emotion Regulation, Adjustment, and Socialization in Childhood, Nancy Eisenberg, Cynthia L. Smith, and Tracy L. Spinrad
15. Attentional Control and Self-Regulation, M. Rosario Rueda, Michael I. Posner, and Mary K. Rothbart
16. A Bidirectional Model of Executive Functions and Self-Regulation, Clancy Blair and Alexandra Ursache
17. Aging and Self-Regulation, William von Hippel and Julie D. Henry
IV. Social Dimension of Self-Regulation
18. The Sociometer, Self-Esteem, and the Regulation of Interpersonal Behavior, Mark R. Leary and Jennifer Guadagno
19. Early Attachment Processes and the Development of Emotional Self-Regulation, Susan D. Calkins and Esther M. Leerkes
20. When People Strive for Self-Harming Goals: Sacrificing Personal Health for Interpersonal Success, Catherine D. Rawn and Kathleen D. Vohs
21. The Effects of Social Relationships on Self-Regulation, Eli J. Finkel and Gráinne M. Fitzsimons
22. The Effects of Self-Regulation on Social Relationships, Gráinne M. Fitzsimons and Eli J. Finkel
23. Waiting, Tolerating, and Cooperating: Did Religion Evolve to Prop Up Humans’ Self-Control Abilities?, Michael E. McCullough and Evan C. Carter
V. Personality and Self-Regulation
24. Temperament and Self-Regulation, Mary K. Rothbart, Lesa K. Ellis, and Michael I. Posner
25. Self-Efficacy Beliefs and the Architecture of Personality: On Knowledge, Appraisal, and Self-Regulation, Daniel Cervone, Nilly Mor, Heather Orom, William G. Shadel, and Walter D. Scott
26. Impulsivity as a Personality Trait, Colin G. DeYoung
VI. Common Problems with Self-Regulation
27. Self-Regulatory Failure and Addiction, Michael A. Sayette and Kasey M. Griffin
28. The Self-Regulation of Eating: Theoretical and Practical Problems, C. Peter Herman and Janet Polivy
29. Self-Regulation and Spending: Evidence from Impulsive and Compulsive Buying, Ronald J. Faber and Kathleen D. Vohs
30. Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Self-Regulation, and Executive Functioning, Russell A. Barkley