Why self-regulation success is not the opposite of failure

Abstract

Inspired by some of current Western societies' most pressing problems, much research attention has been devoted to understanding self-regulation failure. While this has yielded some very valuable insights, the current paper underlines that understanding self-regulation failure does not mean that we also understand self-regulation success. Whereas failure and success are semantic antonyms, in terms of self-regulation research, they should not be regarded as mere opposites. First, on the process level, self-regulation success versus failure is not simply a matter of inverse explanatory factors (e.g., the capacity to inhibit impulses vs. a lack thereof). Second, on the outcome level, self-regulation success versus failure is not strictly a matter of inverse behavioral action (e.g., abstaining from versus indulging in immediate gratification). This has significant implications, the most important one being that to understand self-regulation success, researchers need to take a more holistic perspective rather than mainly considering single instances when studying self-regulation.