THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESENCE OF FAMILY IMPROVES SELF-CONTROL

Three studies show that the psychological presence of family provides a temporary increase in self-control. In Study 1, participants (n = 79) subliminally primed with the names of their family members subsequently performed better at an open-ended language task relative to participants primed with neutral words. Study 2 ruled out two plausible alternative interpretations of this result. Participants in Study 2 (n = 139) who wrote a short essay about a family member with whom they had a good relationship demonstrated more self-control than those who wrote about a humorous episode or an enemy relationship, as measured by their performance on a simple but tedious math test. Study 3 was designed to demonstrate that self-control, rather than motivation, was affected by thoughts of the family. Participants (n = 66) primed with a visual cue of a family member ate fewer cookies than those not primed-when individual differences in eating restraint were controlled. The theoretical and applied implications of these findings are outlined.