Reference
Baldwin, C. R., Haimovitz, K., Shankar, P., Gallop, R., Yeager, D., Gross, J. J., & Duckworth, A. L. (2022). Self-control and SAT outcomes: Evidence from two national field studies. PLOS ONE, 17(9), e0274380. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274380
Review
In this article, the authors investigate the impact of willpower and strategic self-control on SAT scores and study time. The study is grounded in the understanding that self-control is often equated with willpower, but recent research has highlighted the importance of strategic approaches to self-control. The authors collaborated with the College Board to survey two national samples of high school students about their motivation strategies for studying for the SAT college admission exam.
The first study (N = 5,563) showed that strategic self-control predicted more hours of SAT practice and higher SAT scores than willpower, even after controlling for prior PSAT scores. The more self-control strategies students utilized, the higher their SAT scores, with diminishing marginal returns for additional strategies. Mediation analyses revealed that the benefits of self-control strategies on SAT scores were fully explained by increased practice time. These results were corroborated in the second study, a preregistered replication with N = 14,259 high school students.
Overall, the article by Baldwin et al. (2022) highlights the importance of strategic self-control over willpower in achieving better outcomes in high-stakes, real-world situations like the SAT exam. The findings suggest that students should focus on developing and implementing self-control strategies to improve their chances of success on the SAT and similar exams.
