Who is Truly a Person with High Self-Regulation? One Who “does the Task They Dislike First” or Who “Eats the Food They Dislike First”?

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to clarify what personality trait determines task order. We conducted a web survey (N=224, 126 men and 98 women, 20-72 years age). We asked about task order in two different decision-making situations, and measured personality traits: self-regulation, BIS, and BAS. The results showed that people who start by first doing tasks they dislike had more self-regulation. For eating situations, the results indicated that people who first eat food they dislike had more self-regulation based on an automatic motivational system. Therefore, task order may involve self-regulation of different properties. In future studies, it will be necessary to approach task order from the perspective of different self-regulation: automatic self-regulation and executive function control.