Research

Trait self-control
Self-control is considered a trait that is fairly stable across time. Good self-control is associated with a host of positive outcomes including good mental and physical health, stable personal relationships, and wealth. Despite being a prominent research topic in several subfields of psychology, there is no clear consensus about how self-control should be defined. Some researchers stress the control of dominant responses such as thoughts, emotions, and impulses as defining elements of self-control. Other definitions are much broader. One line of current work seeks to develop a theory-guided, encompassing conceptualization of self-control. This project seeks to closely consider overlap with and distinctiveness from related constructs in the personality space, and elucidate implications for the measurement of self-control.

Social comparison and self-regulation
People often strive towards self-improvement and their current motivation can hinge on their social environment, namely the people around them. We combine social comparison with motivational principles form self-regulation research and demonstrate how discrepancy assessments between the self and a social comparison standard influence motivation and associated emotions: A negative discrepancy (upward comparison) is associated with increased effort investment (pushing), but with decreased effort investment if the discrepancy between the self and the social comparison standard becomes too large (disengagement). Positive discrepancies, on the other hand, are related to positive affect and less effort investment (coasting) as the standard has been surpassed (Diel, Grelle, & Hofmann, 2021; Diel, Broeker, Raab, & Hofmann, 2021). In a second line of research, we investigate how people use social comparison information in order to fulfil certain motives and needs, and whether people strategically select certain social comparison standards to justify their behavior, which is driven by motivational states (e.g. self-interest; Diel, Ockenfels, & Hofmann, unpublished manuscript).

Self-control training
If self-control is apparently so helpful in living a healthy, happy, and prosperous life, a self-suggesting question is how it can be improved. Some researchers examined if regular practice of self-control can lead to changes not only in the practiced domain, but more broadly in domains that require self-control. A recent meta-analysis of this literature from our lab provided mixed support for this idea and concluded that more theoretical and empirical work is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn (Friese, Frankenbach, Job, & Loschelder, 2017).

State self-control
A prominent idea suggests that the exertion of self-control impairs performance in subsequent attempts at self-control (ego depletion effect). After a prolific period in which this phenomenon has received abundant attention in research and the public media, the field as been confronted with severe doubts about the robustness and replicability of much of the reported research. A review from our lab about the state of the field concluded that there is no conclusive evidence for the phenomenon beyond reasonable doubt, but neither is there conclusive evidence that the phenomenon does not exist. Both better theoretical and empirical work is needed to gain a deeper understanding of ego depletion effects (Friese, Loschelder, Gieseler, Frankenbach, & Inzlicht, 2019). Ongoing work examines the role of mental effort as indicated by psychophysiological measures in the emergence of ego depletion effects.

The dynamics of self-control
Many self-control situations are characterized by conflicts between individuals’ long-term goals and their short-term impulses. Based on contemporary dual-process and dual-system models of human behavior, we examined the interplay of three components that jointly shape self-regulatory behavior: (1) reflective precursors of behavior such as explicit attitudes and personal standards, (2) impulsive precursors of behavior such as spontaneous affective reactions toward a temptation, and (3) boundary factors that shift the weight of reflective and impulsive processes on behavior such as the willingness and the ability of the individual to exert control over behavior. A series of studies supported the assumptions that reflective precursors correspond to observed self-regulatory behavior better under conditions of high ability to control and the reverse was true for impulsive precursors of behavior (for an overview, see Hofmann, Friese, & Strack, 2009).

Sexual motivation: conceptualization and meta-analysis of gender differences
Few areas of life are as universally relevant to (almost) all individuals past puberty as sexuality. People vary in their intrinsic motivation to seek sexual activity and satisfaction, typically referred to as sexual motivation or sex drive. Several recent projects have revolved around this concept. Previous research has varied in how it conceptualized sexual motivation. In one project, we offered a theory-driven conceptualization of the construct as a density distribution of state sexual motivation, where state sexual motivation is defined as momentary interest in sexual activity as manifested in sexual cognition, affect, and behavior (Frankenbach, Weber, Loschelder, Kilger, & Friese, 2022). Based on this conceptualization, we conducted a meta-analysis of gender differences in sexual motivation. Previous research has typically reported stronger sexual motivation in men compared to women (Baumeister et al., 2001), but some authors have argued that the respective reports may be of questionable validity due to biased responding by both genders (Conley et al., 2011). In our meta-analysis, we found a medium to large gender difference indicating stronger sexual motivation in men compared to women. When trying to control for biased responding by accounting for response bias on items that logically cannot show significant gender differences, the meta-analytic effect was medium in size.

Measuring sexual motivation
To elucidate the impact of sexual motivation on people's lives, researchers need a valid measure of the construct. Existing self-report measures of sexual motivation often lack a theoretical conceptualization, a comprehensive validation process, or both, compromising their validity and widespread use. Based on our theoretical conceptualization of sexual motivation (Frankenbach et al., 2022), we developed the Trait Sexual Motivation Scale (TSMS; Weber, Reis, & Friese, 2024). In four preregistered studies, we rigorously validated the TSMS in accordance with recommended practices for scale validation (Loevinger, 1957; Simms, 2008). Overall, the TSMS was found to be an economical, reliable, and valid measure of sexual motivation independent of gender and relationship status.

Sexual norms and sexual self-presentation
Sexuality is one of the most sensitive and private areas of life. People who are asked sexual questions may therefore be reluctant to give completely honest answers and instead tend to present themselves in ways that are particularly valued by others. Previous research has often suggested that the social norms underlying self-presentation tendencies follow a sexual double standard: that high levels of sexual activity are socially rewarded for men, but socially punished for women (Marks & Fraley, 2005). As a result, men have been expected to exaggerate their sexual experiences while women have been expected to understate theirs (Alexander & Fisher, 2003). However, empirical support for the sexual double standard and gendered self-presentation tendencies is scarce. In one project, we examined how people believe others will evaluate different levels of sexual activity for men and women. Across two samples and seven sexual outcomes, high sexual activity was judged more favorably for men than for women (replicating previous research), and the opposite was true for low sexual activity (extending previous research). Importantly, moderate (not extremely low or high) sexual activity was rated most favorably in both genders, suggesting that male and female sexual norms are equally characterized by similarities and differences (Weber & Friese, 2024). In another project, we examined sexual self-reports in online studies that do not require direct human interaction and thus may work against self-presentation. Using four different approaches to prevent, test, and control for self-presentation effects, we found little evidence that online reports of sexual motivation are fundamentally flawed. In particular, our results do not support the hypothesis that self-presentation is a major driver of gender differences in sexual motivation (Weber, Kilger, & Friese, unpublished manuscript).

Sexual motivation in everyday life
Although research on sexual motivation has become more and more popular, its characteristics and importance in the daily lives of young and healthy people are still poorly understood. To address this gap, we conducted an experience-sampling study to examine (a) characteristics ("How frequently do sexual events occur?"), (b) antecedents (e.g., self-control, partner presence), and (c) consequences (e.g., distraction, relationship quality) of sexual motivation in everyday life. Results suggest that sexual events are prevalent and frequent (e.g., several fantasies per day on average), that reported sexual motivation is higher when partners are present, and that higher levels of sexual motivation are associated with higher relationship quality (Weber, Frankenbach, Hofmann, & Friese, unpublished manuscript).

Some of our projects are concerned with Meta-Science - research about research. In one project, we investigated the efficacy of post-experimental debriefings to remedy the negative effects of ego threatening manipulations in research studies on participants' well-being (Miketta & Friese, 2019). Two projects examined the theoretical basis (i.e., the strength model of self-control) and the empirical research on ego depletion effects (Friese, Loschelder, Gieseler, Frankenbach, & Inzlicht, 2019; Gieseler, Loschelder, & Friese, 2019). A recent book chapter covers the concept of p-hacking, the consequences of p-hacking for scientific progress, the prevalence and detection of p-hacking, and ways to prevent it (Reis & Friese, in press). Finally, in another project we employed a large-scale simulation study to examine the influence of p-hacking and publication bias on the distortion of meta-analytic effect size estimates (Friese & Frankenbach, 2020).