Schmeichel Brandon J, Crowell Adrienne, Harmon-Jones Eddie
Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA and
Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4235, USA and.
Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2016 Feb;11(2):282-8. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsv112. Epub 2015 Sep 4.
Self-control refers to the capacity to override or alter a predominant response tendency. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation, as revealed by patterns of electrical activity in the prefrontal cortex. Participants completed a writing task that did vs did not require them to exercise self-control. Then they viewed pictures known to evoke positive, negative or neutral affect. We assessed electroencephalographic (EEG) activity while participants viewed the pictures, and participants reported their trait levels of behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) sensitivity at the end of the study. We found that exercising (vs not exercising) self-control increased relative left frontal cortical activity during picture viewing, particularly among individuals with relatively higher BAS than BIS, and particularly during positive picture viewing. A similar but weaker pattern emerged during negative picture viewing. The results suggest that exercising self-control temporarily increases approach motivation, which may help to explain the aftereffects of self-control (i.e. ego depletion).
自我控制是指超越或改变主要反应倾向的能力。当前的实验检验了这样一个假设：如前额叶皮层的电活动模式所示，进行自我控制会暂时增强趋近动机。参与者完成了一项写作任务，该任务要求或不要求他们进行自我控制。然后，他们观看了已知会引发积极、消极或中性情绪的图片。在参与者观看图片时，我们评估了脑电图（EEG）活动，并且在研究结束时，参与者报告了他们行为抑制系统（BIS）和行为激活系统（BAS）敏感性的特质水平。我们发现，在观看图片期间，进行（而非未进行）自我控制会增加相对左侧额叶皮层的活动，特别是在那些BAS相对高于BIS的个体中，尤其是在观看积极图片期间。在观看消极图片期间也出现了类似但较弱的模式。结果表明，进行自我控制会暂时增强趋近动机，这可能有助于解释自我控制的后效（即自我损耗）。
