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J Quant Criminol (2006) 22:263277DOI 10.1007/s10940-006-9011-1ORIGINAL PAPERSelf-control Depletion and the General Theory of CrimeMark Muraven Greg Pogarsky Dikla ShmueliPublished online: 8 June 2006
Springer Science+Business Media, Inc. 2006Abstract Criminological research on self-control focuses mainly on self-control failure.Such research has not, however, investigated the consequences of exercising self-controlfor the individual doing so. The present study investigates this issue within the frameworkof both criminological self-control theory and research on self-control depletion fromsocial psychology, which depicts self-control as akin to a muscle that is depletableby prior use [Muraven and Baumeister (2000) Psycholog Bull 126:247259]. Results arepresented from a laboratory experiment in which students have the opportunity to cheat.Both trait self-control, as measured by the Grasmick et al. [(1993) J Res Crime Delinq30:529] self-control inventory, and self-control depletion independently predictedcheating. The implications of these findings are explored for criminological perspectiveson self-control and offender decision-making.Keywords Self-control Experiment Deterrence Decision-making A general theory of crimeIntroductionSelf-control theory proposes that individuals who are ineffectively parented prior to age 10develop less self-control than their similarly aged and better parented counterparts. Thismakes them prone to quick and easy gratification and, given the opportunity, crime(Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990). Research has generally found that low self-control isassociated with various criminal and imprudent behaviors (e.g., Evans et al. 1997;Grasmick et al. 1993; Paternoster and Brame 1998) and that this relationship appearscontingent on criminal opportunity (Lagrange and Silverman 1999).M. Muraven (&) D. ShmueliDepartment of Psychology, University at Albany, Social Sciences 356, Albany, NY 12222, USA
E-mail: [email protected]. PogarskySchool of Criminal Justice, University at Albany, 135 Western Avenue, Albany, NY12222, USA123264 J Quant Criminol (2006) 22:263277Most criminological research on this topic has tended to focus on self-control failure.Yet Gottfredson and Hirschis theory implies that self-control is frequently exercised.It considers criminal and imprudent behaviors natural human tendencies requiring selfcontrol to avoid them. Moreover, self-control is considered a continuous (i.e., differencesin degree) rather than typological (i.e., either you have it or you dont) tendency. Thus,individuals who violate rules on one occasion may nevertheless exert self-control onothers. This suggests self-control is frequently exercised by some, and at least occasionallyso by a potentially large portion of the population. We are interested in whether there areconsequences from exercising self-control. In particular we ask: Does exercisingself-control itself impair further self-control?Two perspectives are integrated to address this...