We’ve all experienced those moments when we’ve been working really hard on a task, finally finish and feel like a well-deserved break, so we grab a coffee and relax for a few moments. What goes through your mind next? Do you believe you’ve reached as far as you can go that day, or do you feel energized for the next task, believing that your powers to keep focused are not depleted?
Research led by psychologist Veronika Job at the University of Zurich and others shed valuable light on the question of willpower and a person’s beliefs about it. Job found that if people believe their willpower is limited—and that they have a certain amount of it that will be used up—it will impact on their performance, particularly when they feel under pressure.
Their research was based on the “limited theory” of willpower, in which some people believe it is limited and needs to be replenished. However, others believe the opposite—that willpower is not limited and that they can activate it when they want to.
