Theories of Willpower Affect Sustained Learning

Eric M Miller, Gregory M Walton, Carol S Dweck, Veronika Job, Kali H Trzesniewski and Samuel M McClure

PLOS ONE, 2012, vol. 7, issue 6, 1-3

Abstract: Building cognitive abilities often requires sustained engagement with effortful tasks. We demonstrate that beliefs about willpower–whether willpower is viewed as a limited or non-limited resource–impact sustained learning on a strenuous mental task. As predicted, beliefs about willpower did not affect accuracy or improvement during the initial phases of learning; however, participants who were led to view willpower as non-limited showed greater sustained learning over the full duration of the task. These findings highlight the interactive nature of motivational and cognitive processes: motivational factors can substantially affect people’s ability to recruit their cognitive resources to sustain learning over time.

Date: 2012
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0038680

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038680

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