Self-control and self-expression

Abstract

Does self-control express or suppress our true selves? This article reviews the emerging body of literature on the effect of self-control on authentic self-expression from the actors' (self-signaling) and the observers’ (other-signaling) perspective. While actors can experience self-control as either expression or suppression of the self, individual differences in decision-making or personal values can predict when self-control is more likely to be experienced in one way or the other. Self-control also signals to observers both positive (e.g., competent, trustworthy, powerful) and negative (e.g., inauthentic, robotic, less warm) identities, with specific inferences depending on the context (e.g., work vs. fun). Overall, the relationship between self-control and self-expression is more nuanced than earlier research suggested, and several open questions await further investigation.