Self-Control

Short Description: Self-control is fundamental to understanding human behavior. Self-control is critical in allowing people to override their immediate impulses and achieve their long-term goals. The data allows to study (i) the determinants of adult self-control; (ii) the role of self-control in predicting key life outcomes in multiple domains, and (iii) the intergenerational implications of parental self-control for child development.

Methodological Details: The brief Tangney Self-Control Scale was employed. It uses a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much) and uses the introductory sentence: “Using the scale provided, please indicate how much each of the following statements reflects how you typically are.”, followed by 13 items. Examples include “I am good at resisting temptation.” and “I have a hard time breaking bad habits.” Furthermore, participants were asked about their current body weight as well as the weight they consider ideal for themselves at the time of the next survey and the weight they predict to have at the time of the next survey.

Available Papers

• Cobb-Clark, Deborah A., Sarah Dahmann, Daniel A. Kamhöfer, and Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch. 2019. Self-Control: Determinants, Life Outcomes and Intergenerational Implications. SOEPpapers 1047 . Berlin: DIW Berlin. (Also published in 2019: IZA DP No. 12488. Bonn: Institute of Labor Economics; and DICE Discussion Paper, No. 319. Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE))

Contact	Syear	Respondents	Dataset	Variables	Availability	Field	Method	Replication
Deborah Cobb-Clark (University of Sydney), Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch (Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf)	2018	~900	inno	sc108, sc109, sc102, sc103, sc201, sc107, sc105, sc101, sc110, sc111, sc104, sc202, sc106, im_sc	04/2021	Economics	Survey items	2017