Discussion Post #3: Self Control

         For my third post, I will discuss impulsivity and self-control. Self-control means to resist against impulsive choices. People show self-control in a lot of scenarios such as limiting the amount of tv that they watch, limiting the amount of sweets they eat and going to sleep around the same time each day to prevent staying up late. According to Howard Rachlin, personal problems with self-control occur because people have a hard time putting off immediate gratification for a better future reward. Howard Rachel uses alcohol as an example to show that people drink when they are happy and also drink when they are stressed to become happy. In both cases, you will feel worse after you drink.  

Self-control has become really difficult due to apps such as tiktok and Instagram. On Tiktok, people see other users promoting things and linking the items that they are talking about. It is really easy to get influenced to purchase something even when you don’t actually need it. Especially for the younger generation, kids have been spending less time playing outside and more time using apps such as Tiktok. There are many influencers on Tiktok that promote a brand or product such as clothes, accessories and more causing 1 out of 4 tiktok users to purchase something that they saw on Tiktok (McNair, 2022). 

To expand the topic that was introduced in the slides, you can improve your self-control by looking at the bigger picture and setting goals for yourself. For example, if you want to start going to sleep earlier and stop using your phone until late at night, you can improve impulsivity by putting your phone on your dresser away from you. If it is closer to you, then it will be harder to have self-control and not reach for it. If it is farther from your reach, you won’t feel tempted to reach for it and use it. Also, you can have a strict schedule to go to sleep at a specific time each day. 

 

 

References:

McNair, K. (2022, December 19). 10 real-world things people have done after watching TikTok videos. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/19/how-tiktok-influences-users-to-spend-money.html