Trait self-control does not predict attentional control: Evidence from a novel attention capture paradigm

Michael A Dieciuc, Heather M Maranges and Walter R Boot

PLOS ONE, 2019, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: To what extent are low-level visual and attentional phenomena related to higher-level personality traits? Trait self-control is thought to modulate behavior via two separate mechanisms: 1) by preventing initial temptation and, 2) by inhibiting temptation when it occurs (disengagement). Similarly, the control of visual attention often entails preventing initial distraction by irrelevant but tempting (goal-similar) objects, and disengaging attention when it has been inappropriately captured. Given these similarities, we examined whether individuals higher versus lower in trait self-control would differ in their susceptibility to attention capture using mouse-tracking as a sensitive, online measure of how attentional dynamics resolve over time and space in response to a distracting visual cue. Using a variety of metrics of attention capture, we found that differences among people in trait self-control did not predict initial selection of visual information nor subsequent disengagement. Overall, these results suggest that trait self-control and attention capture operate via separate mechanisms.

Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0224882

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224882

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