Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength

by Roy F. Baumeister

All sorts of good habits were forsaken as the students’ self-control waned during exam period. They stopped exercising. They smoked more cigarettes. They drank so much coffee and tea that their caffeine intake doubled. The extra caffeine might have been excused as a study aid, but if they were really studying more, you’d expect them to be drinking less alcohol, and that didn’t happen. Even though there were fewer parties during exam time, the students drank as much as ever. They abandoned healthy diets and increased their consumption of junk food by 50 percent. It wasn’t that they suddenly convinced themselves that potato chips were a brain food. They simply stopped worrying about unhealthy, fattening food when they were focused on exams. They also became less concerned about returning phone calls, washing dishes, or cleaning floors. Final-exam time brought declines in every aspect of personal hygiene that was studied. The students became less diligent about brushing and flossing their teeth. They skipped washing their hair and shaving. And, yes, they wore dirty socks and other unwashed clothes.