Will Power and the PIG

We are each a bio-psycho-social system with a story.   From our particular physiology, personal history, and current social environment emerges the Psyche – an entity that is more than the sum of its parts.

Each Psyche has a unique set of attributes.  Some have the intellectual powers that enable them to predict the likely outcomes of the alternatives available to them so they can make choices in their own best interests.  Getting the self to follow this path despite the influence of local stressors and temptations is another matter entirely, and requires an additional faculty: Will Power.

After considering the costs and benefits of his drinking history Mr. Hasselbring commits to abstinence.  If he drinks after vowing not to, his actions were not dependent on his intention, but on local conditions.

Such loss of control is the defining feature of dependence – in this case, alcohol dependence.  One is said to be dependent on chemicals, food, sex, love, gambling, etc., when behavior is determined – not by the commitments made when the person was in his or her right mind – but by local conditions.

Intention versus Local Influence

Real time is where history is made.  At each moment the Psyche selects one out of the many alternatives to be promoted to reality, while the others are condemned to oblivion.  This is how the Psyche creates – or sculpts – its own biography.

During high risk situations there is a conflict between the motivation to adhere to the self-serving commitment and the influence of local stressors and temptations that motivate defection.  At such crossroads the Psyche has an opportunity to influence the course of its own biography.  Independence requires the ability to over-ride the influence of local conditions at these critical moments

The deceptively powerful influence of local conditions on human motivation is due to:

Stimulus Salience – How attention grabbing a stimulus is.  When Hasselbring is watching his buddies drink, the alcohol is highly salient – more salient than the sincere, but abstract, commitment he made several weeks ago.

Recommendation: Frequently refresh your commitment – use vivid imagery to remind yourself of the reasons why you made it.

The Problem of Immediate Gratification [the PIG] – It is the immediacy rather than the magnitude of the payoff that determines how influential an incentive will be.

The PIG says, “The closer you are to the incentive the stronger is its influence.”

The influence of an incentive increases exponentially as the Psyche’s distance from it decreases – in terms of time, space or psychological [thoughts and images] distance

Recommendation: Because the PIG is and so difficult to recognize in real time, and its power to influence motivation can increase so rapidly, any warning signal is likely to be your last chance to exert will.  You must take immediate action to put distance between you and the incentive – any delay and it will too late!

Cognitive Resources and Will Power

A tennis plays knows that she can only hit the tennis ball in front of her now – not the ones from the past or the ones that lie in the future.   She remembers her coach reminding her: “Keep your eye on the ball.”   While she knows this is good advice, performing as intended in real time is not so easy.  Fatigue, emotions caused by unforced errors, as well as other drains on cognitive resources may leave her vulnerable to fatal distraction. The ability to maintain focus on the ball despite the influence of local conditions is a measure of will power.

Will power is not inexhaustible and self-management efforts often fall short because of the depletion of the cognitive resources required to over-ride local distractions.  Like muscle power, will power is strengthened by regular exercise but can be exhausted by too great a load.

To perform intentionally the operator of this bio-psycho-social system has to prevent the depletion of cognitive resources from undermining goal-directed behavior.

Mental exercises such as self-hypnosis can enhance will power.  Effective tactics to prevent exhaustion during a crisis include applied relaxation and cognitive coping skills.  Please call our office [512) 343-8307 or visit our web site: www.souldirected.com – for assistance in developing a specific action plan for your unique circumstance.

Performing as Intended

Repeated failures to adhere to commitments are demoralizing and often cause the dependent person to seek external help in the form of treatment.  By far the most popular treatment option for addictive disorders is the 12-Step approach of Alcoholics Anonymous, and is based on the philosophy that addiction is a disease over which the victim is powerless. The dependent individual is advised to subordinate his or her will to an external agency [treatment program, support group, guru, or higher power].

An alternative to the 12-Step approach is the model presented here which is focused on enhancing rather than abandoning Will Power.

Elitism notwithstanding, the ability to over-ride the pull of local conditions requires sufficient powers of intellect and will, which are, frankly, not available to most individuals with addictive disorders.  Even those with the requisite gifts may not be able to take advantage of them, because of frequent periods of cognitive depletion.

The path offered here requires: the creativity to apply what has been learned at an abstract level to real-time circumstance, the courage to go beyond the cheap education of learning by reading to the more expensive education of learning though direct experience, and the perseverance to stay the path no matter what the circumstance.

Those who have gotten to this point despite the complexity of the subject matter are self selected, and have demonstrated the required intellectual traits.  What remains to be demonstrated is the creativity, courage, and perseverance to see this challenge through to good long-term outcome..

———-

Footnotes:1. Muraven, M., & Baumeister, R. F. (2000). Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle? Psychological Bulletin, 126, 247–259.