Although people tend to take the path of least resistance, there are situations where investing money & effort makes the associated activities more worthwhile

Englert, Chris, Benjamin Pageaux, and Wanja Wolff. 2020. “Self-control in Sports.” PsyArXiv. November 27. doi:10.31234/osf.io/695c2

Rof Degen's take: https://twitter.com/DegenRolf/status/1332271387965321216

Abstract

Imagine yourself walking to the gym in the rain after a long hard day at work. Picture yourself lifting heavy weights, even though you would prefer sitting on the sofa watching your favorite baseball team win a playoff match. Envision a marathon runner who keeps pushing herself during the final miles of a run, trying to override her thoughts of quitting the straining competition. These are just some sports-related examples of situations during which self-control processes enable us to keep striving for a desirable goal and suppress po-tentially tempting action alternatives. In general, “self-control refers to the capacity for altering one’s own responses, especially to bring them into line with standards such as ideals, values, morals, and social expectations, and to support the pursuit of long-term goals” (Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, 2007, p. 351) . However, self-control is not always applied effectively as, for instance, evidenced by the large number of gym dropouts every year (e.g., Englert & Rummel, 2016).

In this chapter, we will discuss empirical findings that highlight the importance of self-control for sports-related performance and we will introduce the theoretical accounts that try to explain why self-control sometimes appears to fail. Finally, we will discuss open research questions in order to improve our understanding of how self-control operates and why it is not applied at all times.