“Lacking Willpower” is a Diet & Fitness Culture Scam
Have you ever described yourself as “lacking willpower?” I certainly have. It is the term we use when we ate a cupcake after spending four dreadful hours trying to ignore it. It is what we say when we sit on the couch instead of going on a run. It denotes an air of laziness with a splash of shame and guilt. But what is “willpower” and what does it mean to “lack it?”
Willpower, or self-control, is a term used to describe a concerted effort to restrain impulses or resist temptation. It has its roots in early Christianity (who is surprised?), but became a hotter topic in the 19th century in conjunction with the self-help movement (Nautilus, 2018). As religion began to wane, there was widespread panic about upholding moral standards. Thus, the term “willpower” became a popular concept to describe those who were resisting temptation and persevering against sins. In the 1960’s, willpower was once again brought into popular culture with a research push on delayed gratification (Nautilus, 2018). These studies set the stage for our 21st century discussions around willpower.
There is a ravaging debate in the psychology community about willpower. Some psychologists, notably Roy Baumeister, believe that willpower is a limited resource that can be depleted or overused. Baumeister conducted a now-famous study giving credence to the concept of “ego depletion.” In this study, “a few undergraduate students were told to resist the urge to eat some fresh-baked chocolate cookies and instead eat from a bowl of red and white radishes, while others were allowed to snack freely on the cookies. Students who were made to exercise self-control performed worse on subsequent psychological tests, suggesting that they had exhausted some finite cognitive resource” (Nautilus, 2018).
Though this study has been replicated multiple times with similar results, a 2015 meta-analysis dissecting these studies in more detail found that “ego depletion” was an unproven phenomenon at best (Resnick, 2020). The other side of psychology, a much newer group, believes that looking at willpower from the lens of “self-control” ignores intrapersonal bargaining (Nautilus, 2018). Intrapersonal bargaining expands the conversation around willpower to include shifting priorities and dynamic motivation over time. Reimagining willpower allows us to include the complicated reality of behavior change -- that behaviors do not exist in isolation and our health is decided by many factors out of our own control. Willpower is not a limited resource because no emotion can be inherently limited. We don’t run out of joy or sadness -- our emotions reflect our needs and our states of being. Why would willpower be any different?
The concept of willpower can be seen in the shaming perpetuated by the diet and fitness industries, hell-bent on guilting you into buying another round of diet shakes or a weight-loss plan. Holding onto the idea that willpower is a limited resource might actually be worse for us. It takes away our autonomy and complicates decision-making. Ironically, a recent study done at Stanford University found that “signs of ego depletion were observed only in test subjects who believed willpower was a limited resource. Those participants who did not see willpower as finite, did not show signs of ego depletion” (Eyal, 2016).
Our emotions are often reflections of our needs which means listening to willpower can give us insight into what we enjoy and feel motivated by. Instead of focusing on times where you “lacked willpower” think of times that you were absorbed in activities or maintaining motivation was easy and fun. Willpower can be a tool for us -- to pursue things that fill our buckets and light us up. Obviously reclaiming willpower means shedding the layers of guilt, shame, and moral superiority first. Remember that concepts like willpower, discipline, and self-control are only useful if we think of them as ways to stay aligned with our values and in response to our needs. For example, I’m disciplined in listening to my body and honoring my hunger.
Unlearning the weight of these concepts takes time. Be kind and gentle with yourself. We are all doing the best we can.
(Eyal, 2016): https://hbr.org/2016/11/have-we-been-thinking-about-willpower-the-wrong-way-for-30-years
(Resnick, 2020): https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/1/15/16863374/willpower-overrated-self-control-psychology
(Nautilus, 2018): https://medium.com/s/nautilus-power/against-willpower-fda54ce51181
