A Model of Self-Regulation

Abstract

The analysis of and research on internal psychological events is beset with such problems as the inaccessibility of the target phenomena, complexity of interactions at the biological and psychological level, and dependence on the subject’s training and sociocultural status. Nevertheless, the necessity for some model of the complex intrapersonal processes that relate current and past inputs and outputs derives both from everyday observations and the variance introduced by these moderators in the study of input-output relationships. Of particular interest are the variables and processes associated with the human capacity for self-regulation. Only humans attain relative independence of external inputs and the natural environment. They achieve this, to a large extent, by an ability to combine information (not only that acquired by personal experience) about past, present, and probable future events for guiding action. While external and biological factors also participate in those processes, the self-managing system and its subsystems have been the focus of interest to psychologists in several areas of specialization, e.g., in personality, motivation, adjustment, and pathology.

This article is an abbreviated and slightly modified version of F. H. Kanfer and S. Hagerman, The Role of Self-Regulation. In L. P. Rehm (Ed.), Behavior Therapy for Depression. New York: Academic, 1981, pp. 143–179. Copyright 1981 by Academic Press, Inc. Reprinted by permission.