AUTHOR=Cheung Tracy T. L.  , Gillebaart Marleen , Kroese Floor , De Ridder Denise 

TITLE=Why are people with high self-control happier? The effect of trait self-control on happiness as mediated by regulatory focus

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2014

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00722

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00722

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> While self-control has often been related to positive outcomes in life such as higher academic achievements and better health, recent insights reveal that people with high trait self-control (TSC) may even experience greater life satisfaction or happiness.</p><p><bold>Objective:</bold> The current study further scrutinizes this potential association between TSC and happiness, and examines how regulatory focus, defined as the way people frame and direct their goal pursuit strategies, plays a role in this relationship. Accordingly, the present study examines the mediating role of regulatory-focus (promotion and prevention focus) on the relationship between TSC and happiness.</p><p><bold>Method:</bold> Data was collected from 545 individuals (65.9% female, <italic>M</italic><sub>age</sub> = 27.52 years) regarding their TSC, regulatory focus, and happiness.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Mediation analyses demonstrate that TSC positively predicts happiness, while this effect was partially mediated by relatively more promotion focus and less prevention focus.</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Results suggest that people with higher TSC are happier possibly because they are: (1) more promotion-focused on acquiring positive gains thereby facilitating more approach-oriented behaviors, and (2) less prevention-focused on avoiding losses thereby reducing avoidance-oriented behaviors. These findings are relevant for topical scientific debates regarding the underlying mechanisms of self-control regarding initiatory and inhibitory behaviors.</p>