Self-control and habits are both effective factors that can contribute to human adaptation and development. Individuals with higher levels of self-control tend to achieve better outcomes in their daily lives, not only because they are more resilient to temptation, but also because they have better daily behavioral habits. However, the relationship between self-control and habits has only been noted as mutually predictive, few studies have explored the role that self-control plays in the habit formation process. The present study aims to explore the relationship between self-control and learning habits in adolescents and to investigate the psychological mechanism of self-control in the process of habit formation.
This study consists of two sub-studies: Study 1 is a psychometric study in which 2565 primary and secondary school students' self-control characteristics and daily learning habits were investigated by using the Dual System Scale of Self-Control (DMSC一S) and the Learning Habits Questionnaire to demonstrate whether self-control can positively predict learning habits through developing a structur al equation model (SEM); Study 2 is a cognitive behavioral experiment in which 58 university students' habit formation and conflict adaptation effects were observed using a self-designed habit formation task and an adapted version of the Stroop task. In the habit formation task, subjects were first randomly assigned to high and low habit conflict groups, with subjects in the high habit conflict group forming two conflicting habits and subjects in the low habit conflict group forming two independent habits. Subjects were then asked to complete an adapted Stroop task to measure their conflict adaptation effect, which was grouped into high and low conflict adaptation according to their conflict adaptation effect value. This was used to explore whether the individual's conflict adaptation
represented a facilitative role for self-control in habit formation.
The findings of this study revealed that: (1) self-control of school students was a positive predictor of their learning habits; (2) subj ects in the high habit-conflict group required more trials to form habits, were slower and had lower habit intensity than those in the low habit-conflict group; (3) subjects in the high conflict-adaptation group required fewer trials to form habits, were faster and had higher habit intensity than those in the low conflict-adaptation group.
This study combines psychometric and cognitive-behavioral experiments to demonstrate that self-control can positively predict habit formation, and further reveals the psychological mechanism of self-control in the process of habit formation, that is, when individuals face conflicts between forming new habits and existing habits, self-control can help them better adapt to the conflicts, thus facilitating the formation of new habits. The results of this study may add to the knowledge on the mechanism of self- control in habit formation and provide guidance and reference for practice in the fields of adolescent learning and education, and health management and promotion.
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