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When in control of one’s behavior, individuals do not always act on impulse but can make a conscious effort to select actions that lead to desired outcomes (Baumeister and Vohs, 2004). Self-control helps achieving long-term or higher order goals by forgoing short-term pleasures. For instance, individuals with high self-control more likely choose a boring task with long-term valued outcomes over a fun task without beneficial outcomes. Although self-control varies within individuals over time, research demonstrated relatively stable differences in self-control between individuals (e.g. Tangney et al., 2004), referred to as trait self-control. Tangney et al. (2004) defined trait self-control as “the ability to override or change one’s inner responses, as well as to interrupt undesired behavior tendencies (such as impulses) and refrain from acting on them” (p. 274). It includes controlling or regulating thoughts, moods, and emotions, restraining undesirable impulses, resisting temptations, breaking bad habits, keeping good self-discipline, maintaining motivation, and persisting when problems/difficulties arise. Central to exercising self-control is the decision to act (or refrain from action) in order to serve long-term outcomes, which is important in many different domains. Self-control has been extensively studied in fields such as physical health (De Ridder and De Wit, 2006), academic performance (Duckworth and Seligman, 2005), and criminality (Hirschi, 2004), generally showing positive relations with desirable and negative relations with undesirable behaviors (De Ridder et al., 2012).
In the organizational field, self-control has mainly been investigated indirectly, as part of higher order traits, such as conscientiousness. Conscientiousness refers to being purposeful, determined, disciplined, dutiful, reliable, orderly, punctual, and responsible (Costa and McCrae, 1992), and relates positively to job performance (Barrick et al., 2001) and negatively to counterproductive work behavior (CWB) (Salgado, 2002). Although there is some debate about the lower order structure of personality, self-control is often conceptualized as a lower order trait or facet of conscientiousness (e.g. Roberts et al., 2005). Tangney et al. (2004) state that the ability to control oneself is an important component of behaving in a conscientious manner. However, although conceptually and empirically related to conscientiousness, self-control is of and by itself an important construct, because it specifically targets behavior and is essential in acquiring valued outcomes in the face of psychological obstacles, such as resentment or...