Untangling the Effects of Self-Regulation Impairment and the Bright Side of Self-regulation Exertion: The Role of Construal Level

Exerting self-regulation is a ubiquitous part of individuals' daily life. Recently, the debate among the mechanism of the effect is popular. For example, Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice contended that when individual exert self-regulation, the insufficient resource impairs their self-regulation. However. Molden et al. suggested that the primary reason for detrimental outcomes following high self-regulation exertion is a decline in motivation (as opposed to reduced resources). Thus, in order to further untangle the process behind self-regulation impairment, we propose a cognitive model of self-regulation by introducing construal level as an alternative mechanism. Interestingly, self-regulation exertion and construal level often have parallel effects. These findings offer a new cognitive mechanism to the effect from self-regulation exertion. Specifically, we show that self-regulation exertion leads individuals to a more abstract cognition, and this abstract cognition could not only impair individuals' vigilance but also enhance individuals' creativity.