Open Access

ARTICLE

Self-Control Training Decreased Intensity of Penalty Toward Previous Offender

Wenyuan Wang^1,#, Shuili Luo^1,#, Everett L. Worthington Jr², Haijiang Li^1,3,*

1 Department of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, 200234, China
2 Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 23284, USA
3 The Research Base of Online Education for Shanghai Middle and Primary Schools, Shanghai, 200234, China

* Corresponding Author: Haijiang Li. Email:
# Shuili Luo and Wenyuan Wang contributed equally

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2023, 25(4), 539-550. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2023.025634

Received 25 July 2022; Accepted 24 October 2022; Issue published 01 March 2023

Abstract

Previous studies have found that self-control training was effective in improving an individual’s self-control, which plays an important role in inhibiting negative emotions. However, it is unclear whether self-control training can facilitate refraining from retaliation. This study randomly assigned participants (N = 55) to a training condition (building self-control by avoiding sweets) or a control condition. Before and after training, participants completed the Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory-18 (TRIM-18) and a modified Taylor aggression task once each. Participants in the training condition inflicted more low-intensity penalties on the previous offender compared to control participants. Participants in the training condition reported lower revenge scores after training than before training. These results provide preliminary support that providing people who wish to forgive self-control training might promote forgiveness.

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Keywords

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