Hirschi’s Redefined Self-Control: Assessing the Implications of the Merger Between Social- and Self-Control Theories

The merger of Hirschi’s social bonding and Gottfredson and Hirschi’s self-control theories has resulted in a recent redefinition of self-control as the “tendency to consider the full range of potential costs of a particular act.” The present study clarifies the implications of Hirschi’s redefinition, advances a new measure of redefined self-control, and provides an empirical test of key hypotheses using data from a Midwestern sample of adolescents. Results indicate that the alternative measure of redefined self-control has predictive validity. Although redefined self-control and social bonds are not the same thing, they are moderately correlated. Net of controls, redefined self-control has a significant direct effect on marijuana use and partially mediates the effect of social bonds.