A 2006 paper in Science by economist and Nobel laureate James Heckman and others posed the question: Could it be self-control? We recognized on reading it that we were in a unique position to learn answers to this question, using data from the Dunedin children we had followed for the past 40 years. IQ was not increased by Head Start but clearly something else was. But the programs have unexpectedly succeeded in lowering the former pupils’ rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, delinquency, and work absenteeism. Keeping a family healthy and intact requires a tremendous act of will: Parents teach their children to control themselves and their emotions along with teaching them their ABCs.Ĭuriosity about the power of self-control skills, which include conscientiousness, self-discipline, and perseverance, arose from recent empirical observations that preschool Head Start, an ambitious, federally funded program of special services launched in 1965 to boost the intellectual development of needy children, has failed to achieve the goal of boosting IQ scores. When times get tough at home, divorce is now a ready and socially acceptable option-as are a wide range of addictive substances, prescription or otherwise. The prevalence of working parents requires a delicate balance of ever-shifting roles and priorities. These remarkable historical shifts are enhancing the value of individual self-control, not only for well-being but also for survival. Should it be any surprise that Westerners face an epidemic of obesity?Īs more citizens receive more years of education, intellectual achievement alone no longer wins the competition for good jobs employers now screen graduates (and their Facebook pages) for signs of conscientiousness and perseverance, or the lack thereof. Delectable, high-calorie foods are on every corner, even as jobs leave people exercising little besides their fingers and minds. Managing retirement savings demands incredible foresight at the same time that one is daily bombarded by seductive advertising.
To avoid disability, dependency, and poverty, people focus on their long-term health and wealth. It’s no wonder that every self-help literature shelf is cluttered with promises of greater self-discipline. But the inability to make use of that capacity can be our greatest personal failure, especially in today’s fast-paced, fast-food world of endless possibility, distraction, and temptation. The capacity for self-control over our thoughts and actions is a fundamental human faculty.
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