Does Self-control Make You Stronger And Warmer?the Effect Of Self-control On Impressions Of Competence And Warmth

As the controversial celebrity quote goes,"Genius is one percent inspiration,plus ninety-nine percent perspiration." It is easy to associate people with high self-control with success in our daily lives,and sometimes we wish we were such people,believing that it would not only make us more successful,but also make us more popular.But is this really the case? Based on the Stereotype Content Model(SCM),this study sought to understand the effects of self-control on two key dimensions of interpersonal impressions-competence and warmth and to explore their mechanisms through three studies.Study 1(103 subjects)asked subjects to nominate an eligible person as an evaluator by manipulating the description of self-control level(high self-control vs.low self-control),measured the subjects’ impressions of competence,warmth,perceived effort and perceived authenticity towards the evaluators with different levels of self-control,and measured the degree of intimacy between the subjects and the evaluators as a control variable.Study 2(193 subjects)examined the effect of self-control on interpersonal impressions in the health domain and its mechanisms,using whether or not to refuse junk food as a self-control manipulation condition(high self-control vs.low self-control),while Study 3(196 subjects)examined the effect of self-control on interpersonal impressions in the work domain,using whether or not to refuse a basketball game in order to write a work report as a self-control manipulation condition(high self-control vs.low self-control).Studies 2 and 3followed the same themes as Study 1 for competence impressions and warmth impressions,and the measures of perceived effort and perceived truth were similarly revised according to changes in the material.The results showed that people rated people with high levels of self-control better on both competence impressions and warmth impressions,with consistent results across the three sub-studies.The mediating role of perceived effort in the effect of self-control on competence impressions was validated in Study 1.By applying different experimental paradigms to different life scenarios and segments,this study investigates the effect of self-control on two main dimensions of interpersonal impressions: impressions of competence and impressions of warmth,as well as the role induced by the mediating variables perceived effort and perceived authenticity.The results of this study can help provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role of self-control on interpersonal impressions and provide new ideas for managing interpersonal impressions.