self regulation essay introduction

What is Self-Regulation? (+95 Skills and Strategies)

This is a question that you might hear from kids, and it perfectly encapsulates what baffles them about adults.

As adults, we pretty much have free rein to do whatever we want, whenever we want. The vast majority of us won’t get arrested for not showing up to work, and no one will haul us off to prison for eating cake for breakfast.

So, why do we show up for work? Why don’t we eat cake for breakfast?

Perhaps the better question is, how do we keep ourselves from shirking work when we don’t want to go? How do we refrain from eating cake for breakfast and eating healthy, less-delicious food instead?

The answer is self-regulation. It’s a vital skill, but it’s also something we generally do without much thought.

If you want to learn more about what self-regulation is, how we make the decisions we make, and why we are more susceptible to temptation at certain moments, read on. We also provide plenty of resources for teaching self-regulation skills to both children and adults.

Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our three Self-Compassion Exercises for free . These detailed, science-based exercises will not only help you increase the compassion and kindness you show yourself but will also give you the tools to help your clients, students, or employees show more compassion to themselves.

This Article Contains:

What is self-regulation.

• What Is Self-Regulation Theory?

The Psychology of Self-Regulation

The self-regulatory model, why self-regulation is important for wellbeing, self-regulation test and assessment, early childhood and child development, self-regulation in adults, activities and worksheets for training self-regulation (pdfs), further resources, interventions, and tools, a take-home message.

Andrea Bell from GoodTherapy.org has a straightforward definition of self-regulation: It’s “control [of oneself] by oneself” (2016).

Self-control can be used by a wide range of organisms and organizations, but for our purposes, we’ll focus on the psychological concept of self-regulation.

As Bell also notes:

“Someone who has good emotional self-regulation has the ability to keep their emotions in check. They can resist impulsive behaviors that might worsen their situation, and they can cheer themselves up when they’re feeling down. They have a flexible range of emotional and behavioral responses that are well matched to the demands of their environment”

The goal of most types of therapy is to improve an individual’s ability to self-regulate and to gain (or regain) a sense of control over one’s behavior and life. Psychologists might be referring to one of two things when they use the term “self-regulation”: behavioral self-regulation or  emotional self-regulation . We’ll explore the difference between the two below.

What Is Behavioral Self-Regulation?

Behavioral self-regulation is “the ability to act in your long-term best interest, consistent with your deepest values” (Stosny, 2011). It is what allows us to feel one way but act another.

If you’ve ever dreaded getting up and going to work in the morning but convinced yourself to do it anyway after remembering your goals (e.g., a raise, a promotion) or your basic needs (e.g., food, shelter), you displayed effective behavioral self-regulation.

What Is Emotional Self-Regulation?

On the other hand, emotional self-regulation involves control of—or, at least, influence over—your emotions.

If you had ever talked yourself out of a bad mood or calmed yourself down when you were angry, you were displaying effective emotional self-regulation.

What is Self-Regulation Theory?

Self-regulation theory (SRT) simply outlines the process and components involved when we decide what to think, feel, say, and do. It is particularly salient in the context of making a healthy choice when we have a strong desire to do the opposite (e.g., refraining from eating an entire pizza just because it tastes good).

According to modern SRT expert Roy Baumeister, there are four components involved (2007):

• Standards  of desirable behavior;
• Motivation  to meet standards;
• Monitoring  of situations and thoughts that precede breaking standards;
• Willpower   allowing one’s internal strength to control urges.

Download 3 Free Self-Compassion Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you to help others create a kinder and more nurturing relationship with themselves.

Download 3 Free Self-Compassion Tools Pack (PDF)

By filling out your name and email address below.

According to Albert Bandura , an expert on self-efficacy and a leading researcher of SRT, self-regulation is a continuously active process in which we:

• Monitor our own behavior, the influences on our behavior, and the consequences of our behavior;
• Judge our behavior in relation to our own personal standards and broader, more contextual standards;
• React to our own behavior (i.e., what we think and how we feel about our behavior)  (1991).

Bandura also notes that self-efficacy plays a significant role in this process, exerting its influence on our thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions.

A quick thought experiment can show the significance of self-efficacy:

Imagine two people who are highly motivated to lose weight. They are both actively monitoring their food intake and their exercise, and they have specific, measurable goals that they have set for themselves.

One of them has high self-efficacy and believes he can lose weight if he puts in the effort to do so. The other has low self-efficacy and feels that there’s no way he can hold to his prescribed weight loss plan.

Who do you think will be better able to say no to second helpings and decadent desserts? Which of them do you think will be more successful in getting up early to exercise each morning?

We can say with reasonable certainty that the man with higher self-efficacy is likely to be more effective, even if both men start with the exact same standards, motivation, monitoring, and willpower.

Barry Zimmerman, another big name in SRT research, put forth his own theory founded on self-regulation: self-regulated learning theory.

We explore this further in The Science of Self-Acceptance Masterclass© .

What is Self-Regulated Learning?

Self-regulated learning  (SRL) refers to the process a student engages in when she takes responsibility for her own learning and applies herself to academic success (Zimmerman, 2002).

This process happens in three steps:

• Planning: The student plans her task, sets goals, outlines strategies to tackle the task, and/or creates a schedule for the task;
• Monitoring: In this stage, the student puts her plans into action and closely monitors her performance and her experience with the methods she chose;
• Reflection: Finally, after the task is complete and the results are in, the student reflects on how well she did and why she performed the way she did (Zimmerman, 2002).

When students take initiative and regulate their own learning, they gain deeper insights into how they learn, what works best for them, and, ultimately, they perform at a higher level. This improvement springs from the many opportunities to learn during each phase:

• In the planning phase, students have an opportunity to work on their self-assessment and learn how to pick the best strategies for success;
• In the monitoring phase, students get experience implementing the strategies they chose and making real-time adjustments to their plans as needed;
• In the reflection phase, students synthesize everything they learned and reflect on their experience, learning what works for them and what should be altered or replaced with a new strategy.

While the model is specific to health- and illness-related (rather than emotional) self-regulation, it is still a good representation of the complex processes at work during self-regulation of any kind.

The figure to the right shows how the model works:

• Stimuli are presented (i.e., something happens that provokes a reaction, whether it’s a thought, something another person said, receiving significant news, etc.);
• The individual makes sense of the stimuli, both cognitively (understanding it) and emotionally (feeling it);
• The sense-making leads the individual to choose  coping responses (i.e., what the person does to influence her feelings about the stimuli or the actions she takes to address the stimuli);
• The sense-making and coping responses determine the outcomes (i.e., the individual’s overall response and how she chooses to behave);
• The individual evaluates her coping responses in light of these outcomes and determines whether to continue using the same coping responses or to alter her formula.

An Example of the Model in Action

If words like “stimuli” and “emotional representations” throw you off, perhaps an example of the model in action will help.

Let’s use Bob as our example.

Bob was just diagnosed with diabetes and is facing his new reality: having to check his blood sugar regularly, changing his diet, and getting comfortable with needles. The diagnosis is Bob’s stimulus .

Bob attempts to make sense of his diagnosis. He talks to his doctor, recalls a friend’s experience with diabetes, thinks about a character’s struggle with diabetes on his favorite TV show, and tries to remember what he learned about diabetes in his college health classes. All of this information feeds into his cognitive representation of his diagnosis.

It’s not all objective thoughts, though. Bob also feels a little shocked about getting this diagnosis since he hadn’t even considered that he might have diabetes. He is worried about how long he’ll be around for his kids and is anxious about how much his life will change. He’s also scared about what will happen if he doesn’t change his life. These feelings make up his emotional representation of his diagnosis.

Once Bob has a semi-firm grasp of his thoughts and feelings about the diagnosis, he makes some decisions about what comes next. Through discussions with his doctor, he decides to start a new, healthier diet and commits to taking frequent walks. However, he also finds that it’s easy to put his diagnosis out of his mind when he’s not having an episode or being directly affected by it.

These decisions and actions are his coping responses .

Bob implements these responses for a few days, then reflects on how he’s been doing. He realizes that, although he is eating marginally healthier and he’s taken a short walk each day, he has mostly refrained from thinking about his diagnosis at all.

Bob reminds himself that if he keeps ignoring his diabetes, he will eventually get sick and may even suffer significant, long-term consequences. This is his evaluation of his representations and coping methods .

Bob commits to facing his diabetes head-on instead of denying it and resolves to work on remembering the potential consequences of not staying healthy. He also resolves to embrace fully the diet he and his doctor planned out and to start going to the gym three times a week.

Bob is using his evaluation of his representations, coping responses, and outcomes to assess how well his actions align with his desired future: a happy and healthy Bob who is around to see his kids grow up. This is the feedback loop .

This example is a good representation of what self-regulation looks like. Essentially, it’s the process of monitoring your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; comparing the outcomes against your goals; then deciding whether to maintain your current attitudes and behaviors or to adjust them in order to meet your goals more effectively.

What is Self-Regulation Therapy?

As noted earlier, you could argue that all forms of therapy are centered on self-regulation—they all aim to help clients reach levels of equilibrium in which they are able to effectively regulate their own emotions and behaviors (and, sometimes, thought patterns, in the case of therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy ).

However, there is also a form of therapy that is specifically designed with self-regulation theory and its principles in mind. Self-regulation therapy draws from research findings in neuroscience and biology to help clients reduce “excess activation in the nervous system” (Canadian Foundation for Trauma Research & Education, n.d.).

This excess activation (i.e., an off-balance or inappropriate fight-or-flight response) can be triggered by a traumatic incident or any life event that is significant or overwhelming.

Self-regulation therapy aims to help the client correct this problem, building new pathways in the brain that allow for more flexibility and more appropriate emotional and behavioral responses. The ultimate goal is to turn emotional and/or behavioral dysregulation into effective self-regulation.

Self-Regulation Versus Self-Control

If you’re thinking that self-regulation and self-control have an awful lot in common, you’re correct. They are similar concepts and they deal with some of the same processes. However, they are two distinct constructs.

As psychologist Stuart Shanker (2016) put it:

“Self-control is about inhibiting strong impulses; self-regulation [is about] reducing the frequency and intensity of strong impulses by managing stress-load and recovery. In fact, self-regulation is what makes self-control possible, or, in many cases, unnecessary.”

Viewed in this light, we can think about self-regulation as a more automatic and subconscious process (unless the individual determines to purposefully monitor or alter his or her self-regulation), while self-control is a set of active and purposeful decisions and behaviors.

Understanding Ego Depletion

An important SRT concept is that of self-regulatory depletion, also called ego depletion.

This is a state in which an individual’s willpower and control over self-regulation processes have been used up, and the energy earmarked for inhibiting impulses has been expended. It often results in poor decision-making and performance (Baumeister, 2014).

When a person has been faced with many temptations (especially strong temptations), he or she must exert an equally powerful amount of energy when it comes to controlling impulses. SRT argues that people have a limited amount of energy for this purpose, and once it’s gone, two things happen:

• Inhibitions and behavioral restraints are weaker, meaning that the individual has less motivation and willpower to refrain from the temptations;
• The temptations, desires, or urges are felt much more strongly than when willpower is at a normal, non-depleted level (Baumeister, 2014).

This is a key idea in SRT. It explains why we struggle to avoid engaging in “bad behavior” when we are tempted by it over a long period of time. For example, it explains why many dieters can keep to their strict diet all day but once dinner’s over they will give in when tempted by dessert.

It also explains why a married or otherwise committed person can rebuff an advance from someone who is not their partner for days or weeks but might eventually give in and have an affair.

Recent neuroscience research supports this idea of self-regulatory depletion. A study from 2013 by Wagner and colleagues used functional neuroimaging to show that people who had depleted their self-regulatory energy experienced less connectivity between the regions of the brain involved in self-control and rewards.

In other words, their brains were less accommodating in helping them resist temptation after sustained self-regulatory activity.

5 Examples of Self-Regulatory Behavior

Although self-regulatory depletion is a difficult hurdle, SRT does not imply that it is impossible to remain in control of your urges and behavior when your energy is depleted. It merely states that it becomes harder and harder as your energy level decreases.

However, there are many examples of successful self-regulatory behavior, even when the individual is fatigued from constant self-regulation.

Examples include:

• A cashier who stays polite and calm when an angry customer is berating him for something he has no control over;
• A child who refrains from throwing a tantrum when she is told she cannot have the toy she desperately wants;
• A couple who’s in a heated argument about something that is important to both of them deciding to take some time to cool off before continuing their discussion, instead of devolving into yelling and name-calling;
• A student who is tempted to join her friends for a fun night out but instead decides to stay in to study for tomorrow’s exam;
• A man trying to lose weight meets a friend at a restaurant and sticks with the “healthy options” menu instead of ordering one of his favorite high-calorie dishes.

As you can see, self-regulation covers a wide range of behaviors from the minute-to-minute choices to the larger, more significant decisions that can have a significant impact on whether we meet our goals.

Let’s take a closer look at how self-regulation helps us in enhancing and maintaining a healthy sense of wellbeing.

Overall, there’s tons of evidence suggesting that those who successfully display self-regulation in their everyday behavior enjoy greater wellbeing. Researchers Skowron, Holmes, and Sabatelli (2003) found that greater self-regulation was positively correlated with wellbeing for both men and women.

The findings are similar in studies of young people. A study from 2016 showed that adolescents who regularly engage in self-regulatory behavior report greater wellbeing than their peers, including enhanced life satisfaction, perceived social support, and positive affect (i.e., good feelings) (Verzeletti, Zammuner, Galli, Agnoli, & Duregger).

On the other hand, those who suppressed their feelings instead of addressing them head-on experienced lower wellbeing, including greater loneliness, more negative affect (i.e., bad feelings), and worse psychological health overall (Verzeletti, Zammuner, Galli, Agnoli, & Duregger, 2016).

Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing

To get more specific, one of the ways in which self-regulation contributes to wellbeing is through emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence can be described as:

“The ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth”

(Mayer & Salovey, 1997).

According to emotional intelligence expert Daniel Goleman, there are five components of emotional intelligence:

• Self-awareness ;
• Self-regulation;
• Internal motivation;
• Social skills.

Self-regulation, or the extent of an individual’s ability to influence or control his or her own emotions and impulses, is a vital piece of emotional intelligence, and it’s easy to see why: Can you imagine someone with high levels of self-awareness, intrinsic motivation, empathy, and social skills who inexplicably has little to no control over his or her own impulses and is driven by uninhibited emotion?

There’s something off about that picture because of self-regulation’s important role in  emotional intelligence . And, as researchers Di Fabio and Kenny found, emotional intelligence is strongly related to wellbeing  (2016).

The better we are at understanding and addressing our emotions and the emotions of others, the better we are at making sense of our environments, adjusting to them, and pursuing our goals.

Self-Regulation and the Motivation to Succeed

Speaking of pursuing our goals, self-regulation is also entwined with motivation. As stated earlier in this article, motivation is one of the core components of self-regulation; it is one factor that determines how well we are able to regulate our emotions and behaviors.

An individual’s level of motivation to succeed in his endeavors is directly related to his performance. Even if he has the best of intentions, well-laid plans, and extraordinary willpower, he will likely fail if he is not motivated to regulate his behavior and avoid the temptation to slack off or set his goals aside for another day.

The more motivated we are to achieve our goals, the more capable we are to strive toward them. This impacts our wellbeing by filling us with a sense of purpose, competence, and self-esteem , especially when we are able to meet our goals.

Self-Regulation in ADHD and Autism

As you might have guessed, self-regulation is also an important topic for those struggling with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

One of the hallmarks of ADHD is a limited ability to focus and regulate one’s attention. For example, ADDitude’s Penny Williams (n.d.) describes her 11-year-old son Ricochet’s struggles with ADHD in terms of the struggle to self-regulate:

“At times, he has struggled with identifying his feelings. He is overwhelmed with emotion sometimes, and he has trouble labeling his feelings. You can’t deal with what you can’t define, so this often creates a troublesome situation for him and me. Now that Ricochet is old enough to start regulating his reactions, one of our current behavior goals is identifying, communicating, and regulating feelings and actions.”

Similarly, difficulty with emotional self-regulation is part and parcel of ASD. Those on the autism spectrum often have trouble identifying their emotions. Even if they are able to identify their emotions, they generally have trouble modulating or regulating their emotions.

Difficulty with self-regulation is well-understood as a common symptom of ASD, but effective methods for improving self-regulation in ASD is unfortunately not as well-known or regularly implemented as one might wish.

The nonprofit advocacy group Autism Speaks suggests several strategies for helping children with autism to learn how to self-regulate. Many of these strategies can also be applied to children with ADHD, including:

• Celebrate and build your child’s strengths and successes;
• Respect and listen to your child;
• Validate your child’s concerns and emotions;
• Provide clear expectations of behavior (using visual aids if necessary);
• Set your child up for success (e.g., accepting a one-word answer, providing accommodations, using Velcro instead of shoelaces);
• Ignore the challenging behavior, like screaming or biting;
• Alternate tasks; do something fun, then something challenging;
• Teach and interact at your child’s current level rather than at what level you want him or her to be;
• Give your child choices within strict parameters (e.g., allowing the child to choose what activity to do first);
• Provide access to breaks when needed—this will give him or her an opportunity to avoid bad behavior;
• Promote the use of a safe calm-down place as a positive place, not a place of punishment;
• Set up reinforcement systems to reward your child for desired behavior;
• Allow times and places for your child to do what he or she wants (when not an inconvenience or intrusion for anyone else);
• Reward flexibility and self-control, verbally and with tangible rewards;
• Use positive/proactive language to encourage good behavior rather than pointing out bad behavior (2012).

Helping your child learn to self-regulate more effectively will ultimately benefit you, your child, and everyone he or she interacts with and will improve his or her overall wellbeing.

The Art of Mindfulness

Mindfulness can be defined as the conscious effort to maintain a moment-to-moment awareness of what’s going on, both inside your head and around you. Mindfulness and self-regulation are a powerful combination for contributing to wellbeing.

As we learned earlier, self-regulation requires self-awareness and monitoring of one’s own emotional state and responses to stimuli. Being conscious of your own thoughts, feelings, and behavior is the foundation of self-regulation: Without it, there is no ability to reflect or choose a different path.

Teaching mindfulness is a great way to improve one’s ability to self-regulate and to enhance overall well-being. Mindfulness encourages active awareness of one’s own thoughts and feelings and promotes conscious decisions about how to behave over simply going along with whatever your feelings tell you.

There is good evidence that mindfulness is an effective tool for teaching self-regulation. Researchers Razza, Bergen-Cico, and Raymond recently published a study on the effects of  mindfulness-based yoga intervention in preschool children (2015).

The researchers found that those in the mindfulness group exhibited greater attention, better ability to delay gratification and more effective inhibitory control than those in the control group.

Findings also suggested that those with the most trouble self-regulating benefited the most from the mindfulness intervention, indicating that those at the lower end of the self-regulation continuum are not a “lost cause.”

Self-Regulation and Executive Function

These skills are known as executive function skills, and they involve three key types of brain functions:

• Working memory: our cache of short-term memories, or information we recently took in;
• Mental flexibility: our ability to shift our focus from one stimulus to another and apply context-appropriate rules for attention and behavior;[be]
• Self-control: our ability to set priorities, regulate our emotions, and to resist our impulses (Center on the Developing Child, n.d.).

These skills are not inherent but are learned and built over time. They are vital skills for navigating the world and they contribute to good decisionmaking.

When we are able to successfully navigate the world and make good choices, we set ourselves up to meet our goals and enjoy greater wellbeing.

Do you ever find your emotions frustrating, overwhelming, or even rather unbearable? Are you able to cultivate an awareness of these emotions but aren’t really sure what to do next?

After noticing and understanding your emotions, it is important to think about how to deal with or regulate these emotions. There are many ways to do this, but a good place to start is to consider asking yourself the questions in the images below.

The more you challenge yourself to answer these important questions and try out other emotional regulation strategies, the more resources you’ll have to process your emotions effectively. This idea has been termed “learned resourcefulness”.

Research shows people who have learned to be resourceful in this way, have a more diverse range of emotional-regulation strategies in their toolkit to deal with difficult emotions and have learned to consider the demands of a difficult situation before selecting an appropriate strategy.

Importantly, these strategies are equally relevant when attempting to regulate positive emotions like happiness, excitement, and optimism. One may engage in techniques to prolong positive emotions in an attempt to feel better for longer or even inspire motivation and other adaptive behaviors.

If you’re interested in measuring your level of self-regulation (or using it in research), there are two solid options in terms of a self-monitoring scale and self-regulation questionnaire:

• The Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SRQ) for adults (Brown, Miller, & Lawendowski, 1999);
• The Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA) for children (Smith-Donald, Raver, Hayes, & Richardson, 2007).

The SRQ is a 63-item assessment measured on a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The items correspond to one of seven components:

• Receiving relevant information;
• Evaluating the information and comparing it to norms;
• Triggering change;
• Searching for options;
• Formulating a plan;
• Implementing the plan;
• Assessing the plan’s effectiveness.

If you’re interested in learning more about this scale or using it in your own work, visit this website .

If you’re more interested in working with young children on self-regulatory strategies, the PRSA will probably work best for you. It’s described as a portable direct assessment of self-regulation in young children based on a set of structured tasks, including activities like:

• Balance Beam;
• Pencil Tap;
• Tower Task;
• Tower Cleanup.

To learn more about this assessment or to inquire about using it for your research, click here .

What is self-regulation? – Empowered to Connect

As noted earlier, the development of self-regulation begins very early on. As soon as children are able to access working memory, exhibit mental flexibility, and control their behavior, you can get started with helping them develop self-regulation.

How to Teach and Develop Self-Regulation in Toddlers

So, you’re probably convinced that self-regulation in children is a good thing, but you might be wondering, Where do I begin?

If that captures your thought process, don’t worry. We have some tips and suggestions to get you started.

Here’s a good list of suggestions from Day2Day Parenting for supporting the self-regulation of very young children (e.g., toddlers and preschoolers):

• Provide a structured and predictable daily routine and schedule;
• Change the environment by eliminating distractions: turn off the tv, dim lights, or provide a soothing object (like a teddy bear or a photo of the child’s parent[s]) when you sense a child is becoming upset;
• Roleplay with the child to practice how to act or what to say in certain situations;
• Teach and talk about feelings and review home/classroom rules regularly;
• Allow children to let off steam by creating a quiet corner with a small tent or pile of pillows;
• Encourage pretend play scenarios among preschoolers;
• Stay calm and firm in your voice and actions even when a child is “out of control”;
• Anticipate transitions and provide ample warning to the child or use picture schedules or a timer to warn of transitions;
• Redirect inappropriate words or actions when needed;
• In the classroom or at playgroups, pair children with limited self-regulatory skills with those who have good self-regulatory skills as a peer model;
• Take a break yourself when needed, as children with limited self-regulatory skills can test an adult’s patience (Thrive Place, 2013).

15 Activities and Games for Kindergarten and Preschool Children

Check out the resources listed below for some fun and creative ideas for kindergarten and preschool children.

Classic Games

We titled these the “classic games” because they are popular, well-known games that you are probably already familiar with. Luckily, they can also be used to help your child develop self-regulation.

If you haven’t already, give these a try:

• Duck, Duck, Goose
• Hide and Seek
• Musical Chairs
• Mirror, Mirror

Some further suggestions come from the Your Therapy Source website (2017):

• Red Light, Green Light : Kids move after “green light” is called and freeze when “red light” is called. If a kid is caught moving during a red light, they’re out;
• Mother May I : One child is the leader. The rest of the children ask: “Mother may I take [a certain number of steps, hops, jumps, or leaps to get to the leader] ? The leader approves or disapproves of the action. The first child to touch the leader wins;
• Freeze Dance : Turn on music. When the music stops, the children have to freeze;
• Follow My Clap : The leader creates a clapping pattern. Children have to listen and repeat the pattern;
• Loud or Quiet : Children have to perform an action that is either loud or quiet. First, pick an action, i.e., stomping feet. The leader says “loud,” and the children stomp their feet loudly.
• Simon Says : Children perform an action as instructed by the leader, but only if the leader starts with, “Simon says . . .” For example, if the leader says, “Simon says touch your toes,” then all the children should touch their toes. If the leader only says, “Touch your toes,” no one should touch their toes because Simon didn’t say so;
• Body Part Mix-Up : The leader will call out body parts for the children to touch. For example, the leader might call out “knees,” and the children touch their knees. Create one rule to start; for example, each time the leader says “head” the kids will touch their toes instead of their heads. This requires the children to stop and think about their actions and not just to react. The leader calls out “knees, head, elbow.” The children should touch their knees, toes , and elbow. Continue practicing and adding other rules that change body parts;
• Follow the Leader : The leader performs different actions and the children have to follow those actions exactly;
• Ready, Set, Wiggle : If the leader calls out, “Ready . . . Set . . . Wiggle,” everyone should wiggle their bodies. If the leader calls out, “Ready . . . Set . . . Watermelon,” no one should move. If the leader calls out, “Ready . . . Set . . . Wigs,” no one should move. The game continues like this. You can change the commands to whatever wording you want. The purpose is to have the children waiting to move until a certain word is said out loud;
• Color Moves : Explain to the children that they will walk around the room. They’ll move based on the color of the paper you are holding up. Green paper means walk fast, yellow paper means regular pace, and blue paper means slow-motion walking. Whenever you hold up a red paper, they stop. Try different locomotor skills like running in place, marching, or jumping.

Another list from The Inspired Treehouse includes good suggestions for other games you can play to calm an emotional or overwhelmed child when you’re on an outing. You can find that list here .

Self-Regulation in Adolescence

As your child grows, you will probably find it harder to encourage continuing self-regulation skills. However, adolescence is a vital time for further development of these skills, particularly for:

• Persisting on complex, long-term projects (e.g., applying to college);
• Problem-solving to achieve goals (e.g., managing work and staying in school);
• Delaying gratification to achieve goals (e.g., saving money to buy a car);
• Self-monitoring and self- rewarding progress on goals;
• Guiding behavior based on future goals and concern for others;
• Making decisions with a broad perspective and compassion for oneself and others;
• Managing frustration and distress effectively;
• Seeking help when stress is unmanageable or the situation is dangerous (Murray & Rosenbalm, 2017).

To ensure that you are supporting adolescents in developing these vital skills, there are three important steps you can take:

• Teaching self-regulation skills through modeling them yourself, providing opportunities to practice these skills, monitoring and reinforcing their progress, and coaching them on how, why, and when to use their skills;
• Providing a warm, safe, and responsive relationship in which adolescents are comfortable with making mistakes;
• Structuring the environment to make adolescents’ self-regulation easier and more manageable. Limit opportunities for risk-taking behavior, provide positive discipline, highlight natural consequences of poor decision-making, and reduce the emotional intensity of conflict situations (Murray & Rosenbalm, 2017).

The Role of Self-Regulation in Education

This leads to an important point: Children reach another significant stage of self-regulation development when they begin attending school—and self-regulation is tested as school gets more challenging.

This is where Zimmerman’s self-regulated learning theory comes into play again. Recall that there are three times when self-regulation can aid the learning process:

• Before the learning task is begun, when the student can consider the task, set goals, and develop a plan to tackle the task;
• During the task, when the student must monitor his own performance and see how well his strategies work;
• After the task, when the student can reflect back on their performance and determine what worked well, what didn’t, and what needs to change.

Zimmerman encourages teachers to do the following three things to help students continue to develop self-regulation:

• Give students a choice in tasks, methods, or study partners as often as you can;
• Give students the opportunity to assess their own work and learn from their mistakes;
• Pay attention to the student’s beliefs about his or her own learning abilities and respond with encouragement and support when necessary (2002).

Strategies, Exercises, and Lesson Plans for Students in the Classroom

If you’re a teacher who is interested in implementing more techniques and strategies for encouraging self-regulation in your classroom, consider the resources and methods outlined below.

McGill Self-Regulation Lesson Plans

This resource from McGill University in Canada includes several helpful lesson plans for building self-regulatory skills in students, including lessons on:

• Cognitive emotion regulation;
• Acceptance ;
• Self-blame;
• Positive refocusing;
• Rumination;
• Refocus of planning;
• Catastrophizing;
• Positive reappraisal;
• Blaming others;
• Putting things into perspective.

College & Career Competency Framework and Lessons

The self-regulation lesson plans from the College & Career Competency Framework detail nine separate lessons you can use to help your students continue to develop their skills. The lessons range in length from about 20 to 40 minutes and can be modified or adapted as needed.

The lessons include:

• Define Self-Regulation;
• Understand Your Ability to Self-Regulate by Taking the Questionnaire;
• Make a Plan;
• Practice Making a Plan;
• Monitor Your Plan;
• Make Changes;
• Find Missing Components;
• Practice Self-Regulation.

Click here to access and purchase the workbook containing the lessons. It includes the information you need to build effective strategies into your curriculum.

Finally, for a treasure trove of lesson plans, activities, and readings you can implement in your classroom, click here .

This resource comes from Scott Carchedi at the School Social Work Network, and includes a student manual and four lesson plans:

• Lesson on emotional regulation: “How Hot or Cold Does Your Emotional ‘Engine’ Run?”;
• Lesson on self-calming methods: “Downshift to a Lower Gear, with Help From Your Body”;
• Lesson on reframing feelings before acting on them: “Slow Down and Look Around You”;
• Lesson on conflict resolution: “Find the Best Route to Your Destination” (2013).

For each lesson, you can access a lesson plan and student activity (or activities) via a Word document and a student reading via a PDF. Use these lessons to help your students boost their self-regulation skill development and adapt or modify them as needed.

Although much attention is paid to self-regulation in children and adolescents because that’s when those skills are developing, it’s also important to keep self-regulation in mind for adults.

Self-Regulation and Navigating the Workplace

For example, self-regulation is extremely important in the workplace. It’s what keeps you from yelling at your boss when he’s getting on your nerves, slapping a coworker who threw you under the bus, or from engaging in more benign but still socially unacceptable behaviors like falling asleep at your desk or stealing someone’s lunch from the office fridge.

Those with high self-regulation skills are better able to navigate the workplace, which means they are better equipped to obtain and keep jobs and generally outperform their less-regulated peers.

To help you effectively manage your emotions at work (and build them up outside of work as well), try these tips:

• Do breathing exercises (like mindful breathing);
• Eat healthy, drink lots of water, and limit alcohol consumption;
• Use self-hypnosis to reduce your stress level and remain calm;
• Exercise regularly;
• Sleep seven to eight hours a night;
• Make time for fun outside of work;
• Laugh more often;
• Spend time alone;
• Manage your work-life balance (Connelly, 2012).

These tips likely come off as very general, but it’s true that living a generally healthy life is key to reducing your stress and reserving your energy for self-regulation.

For more specific tips on building your self-regulation skills, read on.

33 Skills and Techniques to Improve Self-Regulation

There are many tips you can use to enhance your self-regulation skills. If you want to give it a shot, read through these techniques and pick one that resonates with you—then try it out.

Mindfulness

Cultivating the skill of mindfulness will improve your ability to maintain your moment-to-moment awareness, which in turn helps you delay gratification and manage your emotions.

Research has shown that mindfulness is very effective at boosting one’s conscious control over attention, helping people regulate negative emotions, and improving executive functioning (Cundic, 2018).

Cognitive Reappraisal

This strategy can be described as a conscious effort to change your thought patterns. This is one of the main goals of cognitive-based therapies (e.g., co gnitive- behavioral therapy  or mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy).

To build your cognitive reappraisal skills, you will need to work on changing and reframing your thoughts when you encounter a difficult situation. Adopting a more adaptive perspective to your situation will help you find a silver lining and help you manage emotion regulation and keep negative emotions at bay (Cundic, 2018).

Cognitive self-regulation has also been found to be positively correlated with social functioning. It involves the cognitive abilities we use to integrate different learning processes, which also help us support our personal goals.

8 Ways to Improve Self-Regulation

This list comes from the Mind Tools website but can also be found in this PDF from Course Hero. It outlines eight methods and strategies for building self-regulation:

• Leading and living with integrity: being a good role model, practicing what you preach, creating trusting environments, and living in alignment with your values ;
• Being open to change: challenging yourself to deal with change in a straightforward and positive manner and working to improve your ability to adapt to different situations while staying positive;
• Identifying your triggers: cultivating a sense of self-awareness that will help you learn what your strengths and weaknesses are and what can trigger you into a difficult state of mind;
• Practicing self-discipline: committing to taking initiative and staying persistent in working toward your goals, even when it’s the last thing you feel like doing;
• Reframing negative thoughts: working on your ability to take a step back from your own thoughts and feelings, analyze them, and come up with positive alternative thoughts;
• Keeping calm under pressure: keeping your cool by removing yourself from the situation for the short-term—whether mentally or physically—and using relaxation techniques like deep breathing;
• Considering the consequences: stopping and thinking about the consequences of giving in to “bad” behavior (e.g., what happened in the past, what is likely to happen now, what this behavior could trigger in terms of longer-term consequences);
• Believing in yourself: boosting your self-efficacy by working on your self-confidence , focusing on the experiences in your life when you succeeded and keeping your mistakes in perspective. Choose to believe in your own abilities and surround yourself with positive, supportive people.

Self-Regulation Strategies: Methods for Managing Myself

This table from Jan Johnson at Learning in Action Technologies lists 23 strategies we can use to self-regulate, both as an individual and as someone in a relationship.

The strategies are categorized into two groups: “Positive or Neutral” and “Negative or Neutral.” Check out some examples in each column and think about where your most frequently used self-regulating learning strategies fall on the chart.

For example, in the upper-left quadrant (“Alone Focus, Positive or Neutral”), strategies include:

• Consciously attend to breathing, relaxing;
• Awareness of body sensations;
• Attending to care for my body, nutrition;
• Meditation and prayer;
• Self-expression: art , music , dance, writing , etc.;
• Caring, nurturing self-talk;
• Laughing, telling jokes;
• Positive self-talk (“I can,” “I’m sufficient” messages);
• Go inside with intentional nurturing of self.

Under the “Relationship—Focus on Other, Positive or Neutral” category, strategies include:

• Seeking dialogue and learning;
• Playing with others;
• Sharing humor;
• Moving toward the relationship to learn (mutual inquiry);
• Desire and/or movement toward collaboration;
• Intentionally honoring or celebrating the other/calling attention to the other.

Finally, the strategies under the “Relationship – Focus on Self, Positive or Neutral” category include:

• Acknowledging what I said or did and any truth in it;
• Moving toward the relationship to learn;
• Desiring collaboration;
• Inquiring about impact;
• Intentionally honoring or celebrating me (throw myself a party).

To see the rest of these strategies, click here (Clicking the link will trigger a download of the PDF).

Self-Regulation in the Classroom

This worksheet is a handy tool that teachers can implement in the classroom. It can be used to help students assess their levels of self-regulation and find areas for improvement.

It lists 23 traits and tendencies that the students can say they do “Always,” “Sometimes,” or “Not So Much.” For the full list, you can see the worksheet here , but below are some examples:

• Participate in small and large group activities;
• Complete work on time;
• Remain on task;
• Follow the classroom rules and routines;
• Ask for help at appropriate times;
• Wait for your turn;
• Refrain from speaking out of turn.

Emotion Regulation Skills

This handout can be useful for both adults and older children and teens. It describes some of the main strategies and skills you can implement to keep emotions under control.

The handout covers four main strategies:

• Opposite action: doing the opposite of what you feel like doing;
• Check the facts: looking back over your experiences to learn the facts of what happened, like the event that triggered a reaction, any interpretations or assumptions made, and whether the response matched the intensity of the situation;
• P.L.E.A.S.E.: This acronym stands for “treat physical illness (PL), eat healthy (E), avoid mood-altering drugs (A), sleep well (S), and exercise (E).” All of these behaviors will help you maintain control of your emotions;
• Paying attention to positive events: keeping your focus on the positive aspects of an experience instead of the negative, trying to engage in a positive activity, and keeping yourself open to the good things.

You can download this handout here .

Handouts: Emotional Regulation, Social Sills, and Problem-Solving

This resource includes several worksheets and handouts you can use as a teacher, parent, or therapist with the children in your care.

It includes worksheets and handouts like Wally’s Problem-Solving Steps, which helps children learn how to problem-solve, and Tiny’s Anger Management Steps, which helps kids figure out how to deal with their anger.

It also includes helpful worksheets that teachers can use to enhance their ability to help students develop better self-regulation skills.

Click here to find out more.

17 Exercises To Foster Self-Acceptance and Compassion

Help your clients develop a kinder, more accepting relationship with themselves using these 17 Self-Compassion Exercises [PDF] that promote self-care and self-compassion.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

If you’re still hungry for more information on self-regulation, there are tons of resources available on the subject. Check out the sources listed below.

Self-Regulation Chart

Aside from the worksheets and handouts noted earlier, there are another handy tool to use with kids: the self-regulation chart.

This self-regulation chart is for parents and/or teachers to complete, but it is focused on the child. It lists 30 skills related to emotional regulation and instructs the adult to rate the child’s performance in each area on a four-point scale that ranges from “Almost Always” to “Almost Never.”

All of these skills are important to keep in mind, but the skills specific to self-regulation include:

• Allows others to comfort him/her if upset or agitated;
• Self-regulates when tense or upset;
• Self-regulates when the energy level is high;
• Deals with being teased in acceptable ways;
• Deals with being left out of a group;
• Accepts not being first at a game or activity;
• Accepts losing at a game without becoming upset/angry;
• Says “no” in an acceptable way to things he/she does not want to do;
• Accepts being told “no” without becoming upset/angry;
• Able to say “I don’t know”;
• Able to end conversations appropriately.

You can find the self-regulation chart and checklist at this link .

The Zones of Self-Regulation

If you spend some time poking exploring self-regulation literature or talking to others about the topic, you’re bound to run into mentions of The Zones of Regulation .

According to developer Leah Kuypers, The Zones of Regulation is a “systematic, cognitive-behavioral approach used to teach self-regulation by categorizing all the different ways we feel and states of alertness we experience into four concrete colored zones” (Kuypers, n.d.).

This book describes the Zones of Regulation curriculum, including lessons and activities you can use in the classroom, in your therapy office, or at home.

In this book, you will learn about the four zones:

• Red Zone: extremely heightened states of alertness and intense emotions (e.g., rage, anger, devastation, terror);
• Yellow Zone: heightened states of alertness and elevated emotions (e.g., silliness, stress, frustration, “the wiggles”), but with more control than the Red Zone;
• Green Zone: calm states of alertness and regulated emotions (e.g., happy, focused, content, ready to learn);
• Blue Zone: states of low alertness and down feelings (e.g., sad, sick, tired, bored).

In addition, reading the book will teach you how to apply the Zones model to help your children, students, or clients build their emotional regulation skills.

You can learn more about this book here .

Handbook of Self-Regulation: Research, Theory, and Applications

For a more academic look at self-regulation, you might want to give this handbook a try.

This volume from researchers Kathleen D. Vohs and Roy F. Baumeister offers a comprehensive look at the theory of self-regulation, the research behind it, and the ways it can be applied to improve quality of life. It also explains how self-regulation is developed and shaped by experiences, and how it both influences and is influenced by social relationships.

Chapters on self-dysregulation (e.g., addiction, overeating, compulsive spending, ADHD) explore what happens when self-regulation skills are not developed to an adequate level.

If you’re a student, researcher, academic, a helping professional, or an aspiring helping professional, you won’t regret investing your time and energy into reading this book and familiarizing yourself with this important topic.

Click here to see the book on Amazon.

The skills involved in self-regulation are necessary for achieving success in life and reaching our most important goals. These skills can also have a major impact on overall wellbeing.

Self-regulation is truly an important topic for everyone to consider. However, it might be even more important for parents and educators to learn about it, since it is an important skill for children to develop.

What do you think of self-regulation theory? What are your strategies for boosting your own self-regulation? What about your strategies for building it in children?

Let us know in the comments section below. If you want to learn more about a similar topic, try reading this piece on posi tive mindsets .

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Self Compassion Exercises for free .

• Autism Speaks. (2012). What are the positive strategies for supporting behavior improvement? Autism Speaks, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.autismspeaks.org/sites/default/files/section_5.pdf
• Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 248-287.
• Baumeister, R. F. (2014). Self-regulation, ego depletion, and inhibition. Neuropsychologia, 65, 313-319. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.08.012
• Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2007). Self-regulation, ego depletion, and motivation. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 115-128.
• Bell, A. L. (2016). What is self-regulation and why is it so important? Good Therapy Blog. Retrieved from https://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/what-is-self-regulation-why-is-it-so-important-0928165
• Brown, J. M., Miller, W. R., & Lawendowski, L. A. (1999). The Self-Regulation Questionnaire. In L. VandeCreek & T. L. Jackson (Eds.), Innovations in clinical practice: A source book, 17,  281-289. Sarasota, FL, US: Professional Resource Press.
• Canadian Foundation for Trauma Research & Education. (n.d.). What is self regulation therapy? CFTRE Courses and Seminars. Retrieved from https://www.cftre.com/courses-seminars/what-is-self-regulation-therapy/
• Carchedi, S. (2013). Curriculum for teaching emotional self-regulation. School Social Work Net. Retrieved from https://www.schoolsocialwork.net/curriculum-for-teaching-emotional-self-regulation/
• Center on the Developing Child. (n.d.). Executive function & self-regulation. Harvard University. Retrieved from https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/
• Connelly, M. (2012). Self regulation. Change Management Coach. Retrieved from https://www.change-management-coach.com/self-regulation.html
• Cuncic, A. (2018). How to practice self-regulation. Very Well Mind . Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/how-you-can-practice-self-regulation-4163536
• Di Fabio, A., & Kenny, M. E. (2016). Promoting well-being: The contribution of emotional intelligence. Frontiers in Psychology, 7 .
• Hagger, M. S., & Orbell, S. (2003). A meta-analytic review of the common-sense model of illness representations. Psychology & Health, 18 , 141-184.
• Kuypers, L. (n.d.). Learn more about the zones. Zones of Regulation . Retrieved from https://www.zonesofregulation.com/learn-more-about-the-zones.html
• Mayer, J. D., & Salovey, P. (1997). What is motional intelligence? In P. Salovey & D. Sluyter (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp. 3-31). New York, NY, US: Basic Books.
• Murray, D. W., & Rosenbalm, K. (2017). Promoting self-regulation in adolescents and young adults: A practice brief. OPRE Report #2015-82. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation.
• Razza, R. A., Bergen-Cico, D., & Raymond, K. (2013). Enhancing preschoolers’ self-regulation via mindful yoga. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24, 372-385.
• Shanker, S. (2016). Self-reg: Self-regulation vs. self-control. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/self-reg/201607/self-reg-self-regulation-vs-self-control
• Skowron, E. A., Holmes, S. E., & Sabatelli, R. M. (2003). Deconstructing differentiation: Self regulation, interdependent relating, and well-being in adulthood. Contemporary Family Therapy, 25, 111-129.
• Smith-Donald, R., Raver, C. C., Hayes, T., & Richardson, B. (2007). Preliminary construct and concurrent validity of the Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA) for field-based research. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 22, 173-187.
• Stosny, S. (2011). Self-regulation. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/201110/self-regulation
• Straker, D. (n.d.). Self-regulation theory. Changing Minds Theories. Retrieved from http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/self_regulation.htm
• https://theinspiredtreehouse.com
• Thrive Place. (2013). What is self regulation and how to help a child to learn self regulation. Day2Day Parenting. Retrieved from http://day2dayparenting.com/help-child-learn-self-regulation/
• Verzeletti, C., Zammuner, V. L., Galli, C., Agnoli, S., & Duregger, C. (2016). Emotion regulation strategies and psychosocial well-being in adolescence. Cogent Psychology, 3.
• Wagner, D. D., Altman, M., Boswell, R. G., Kelley, W. K., & Heatherton, T. F. (2013). Self-regulatory depletion enhances neural responses to rewards and impairs top-down control. Psychological Science, 24, 2262-2271.
• Williams, P. (n.d.). Chill skills: Calming my emotional child with ADHD. ADDitude. Retrieved from https://www.additudemag.com/chill-skills-calming-my-emotional-adhd-child/
• Your Therapy Source. (2017). 10 fun games to practice self regulation skills (no equipment needed). Your Therapy Source Blog. Retrieved from https://www.yourtherapysource.com/blog1/2017/05/16/games-practice-self-regulation-skills/
• Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41 , 64-70.

Share this article:

Article feedback

What our readers think.

excellent articles covers all categories of persons including Adults, children, adolescents and toddlers. even in class students too. best wishes

Wow! Thank you for putting this all together.

Let us know your thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Related articles

Reparenting: Seeking Healing for Your Inner Child

In our work as therapists, we often encounter the undeniable truth: we never truly outgrow our inner child. A youthful part within us persists, sometimes [...]

30 Best Self-Exploration Questions, Journal Prompts, & Tools

Life is constantly in flux – our environment and ‘self’ change continually. Self-exploration helps us make sense of who we are, where we are, and [...]

Inner Child Healing: 35 Practical Tools for Growing Beyond Your Past

Many clients enter therapy because they have relationship patterns that they are tired of repeating (Jackman, 2020). They may arrive at the first session asking, [...]

Read other articles by their category

• Body & Brain (50)
• Coaching & Application (57)
• Compassion (26)
• Counseling (51)
• Emotional Intelligence (24)
• Gratitude (18)
• Grief & Bereavement (21)
• Happiness & SWB (40)
• Meaning & Values (26)
• Meditation (20)
• Mindfulness (45)
• Motivation & Goals (45)
• Optimism & Mindset (34)
• Positive CBT (29)
• Positive Communication (20)
• Positive Education (47)
• Positive Emotions (33)
• Positive Leadership (18)
• Positive Parenting (4)
• Positive Psychology (33)
• Positive Workplace (37)
• Productivity (17)
• Relationships (46)
• Resilience & Coping (38)
• Self Awareness (21)
• Self Esteem (38)
• Strengths & Virtues (32)
• Stress & Burnout Prevention (34)
• Theory & Books (46)
• Therapy Exercises (37)
• Types of Therapy (64)

About The Education Hub

• Course info
• Your courses
• ____________________________
• Using our resources
• Login / Account

The importance of self-regulation for learning

• Curriculum integration
• Health, PE & relationships
• Literacy (primary level)
•   Practice: early literacy
• Literacy (secondary level)
• Mathematics

Diverse learners

• Gifted and talented
• Neurodiversity
• Speech and language differences
• Trauma-informed practice
• Executive function
• Movement and learning 
• Science of learning
• Self-efficacy
• Self-regulation
• Social connection
• Social-emotional learning
• Principles of assessment
• Assessment for learning
• Measuring progress
• Self-assessment

Instruction and pedagogy

• Classroom management
• Culturally responsive pedagogy
• Co-operative learning
• High-expectation teaching
• Philosophical approaches
• Planning and instructional design
• Questioning

Relationships

• Home-school partnerships
• Student wellbeing NEW
• Transitions

Teacher development

• Instructional coaching
• Professional learning communities
• Teacher inquiry
• Teacher wellbeing
• Instructional leadership
• Strategic leadership

Learning environments

• Flexible spaces
• Neurodiversity in Primary Schools
• Neurodiversity in Secondary Schools

Self-regulation is the process by which students monitor and control their cognition, motivation, and behaviour in order to achieve certain goals. There are several interweaving theories of self-regulation, but most common models conceptualise self-regulation in terms of a series of steps involving forethought or planning, performance, and reflection [i] [ii] . These steps can be explicitly taught and, while self-regulation increases to some extent with age, the research is clear that self-regulation can be improved and that the role of the teacher is crucial in supporting and promoting self-regulated learning. What is more, students’ emotions and their beliefs about their own ability play a key role in the development and exercise of self-regulation, and teachers can further support self-regulation by teaching students about growth mindset and the role of the emotions in learning .

The first step in self-regulated learning is to plan and set goals . Goals are guideposts that students use to check their own progress. Setting goals involves activating prior knowledge about the difficulty of the task and about one’s own ability in that content area. Students may weigh in their mind how long an activity may take and set a time management plan in place. They may also think about particular learning strategies (such as asking themselves questions as they read) that they will use in reaching their goal/s.

Students self-regulate by focusing their energy and attention on the task at hand. This next step involves exercising control. Control can be exercised by implementing any of the learning strategies (such as rehearsal, elaboration, summarising or asking themselves questions) chosen in the first step. Help-seeking can also be a form of control, but only when the learner uses it to develop their own skill or understanding: help-seeking is not considered self-regulatory behaviour when it is used as a crutch to arrive at the answer without the hard work. Control can also take the form of using attention-focusing strategies such as turning off all music, sitting alone, or going to the library, and it involves postponing enjoyable activities in order to make progress towards one’s goals. Simply put, control is general persistence to stick with the strategies that work.

Next, self-regulated learners monitor progress towards their goal. Individuals can monitor their own understanding, motivation, feelings, or behaviour towards a goal. For example, by using the metacognitive strategy they decided to use in the goal-setting stage (asking themselves questions), students can clarify for themselves what they do and do not yet know. Other ways of self-monitoring include keeping track of how much studying truly gets done with a study group, or noticing which contexts and environments allow them to focus on their work.

Finally, students use the information gathered through the previous self-evaluation to metacognitively reflect and respond . A student’s confidence in their own abilities will shape how they reflect on their progress or lack thereof. For example, a student with a stable, high belief that they are capable will attribute a low grade on a math test to their lack of sleep the night before or their minimal study time as opposed to a lack of intelligence. Responding to a self-evaluation functions like a thermostat, either turning up the dial on effort to increase progress towards one’s goals or easing back to focus on other tasks. This adjustment can manifest as help-seeking behaviour, persistence, or shifting learning strategies.

Why is self-regulation important?

It is increasingly important that students are able to proactively evaluate and improve upon their own learning. In a rapidly changing world, successful individuals must be life-long learners who are metacognitive about and able to effectively evaluate their learning. Within the education system, students without the ability to focus their attention and maintain perseverance will be constantly pulled left and right by their immediate impulses. Furthermore, students who fail to learn self-evaluation strategies will not be able to effectively direct their attention towards the areas that need it the most. While some students may find poor study conditions, confusing lessons or difficult texts to be insurmountable obstacles, self-regulation allows learners to navigate these conditions by discovering solutions that work.

In addition to developing personal responsibility about learning, self-regulation also solidifies the content of learning. Self-regulation practices improve the encoding of knowledge and skills in memory, especially in reading comprehension and writing. [iii] Research has also identified that self-regulation strategies are associated with increased student effort and motivation, improved scores on standardised tests and general preparedness for class.

How do we cultivate self-regulation?

As discussed above, the self-regulation process is composed of a series of steps. These steps are not rigid in their order. In actuality, self-regulated learners engage in many of these processes simultaneously or shift the steps as they become adept self-regulators. To teach and develop student self-regulation as a whole, teachers can support each of the underlying stages. It is also important to support students’ self-efficacy, encourage them to adopt a growth mindset and prioritise learning over grades and marks.

Match the form of learning with appropriate strategies

In this first stage, students identify particular learning strategies that fit with their goals. Basic learning tasks such as encoding information for memory recall are best learned through rehearsal, organisation or categorisation, mnemonic devices, or paraphrasing the information. However, more elaborate strategies are used when students are asked to make information meaningful. In building connections between new concepts and a learner’s existing knowledge, students may choose to list underlying causes or themes, outline the structure of the process or paper, or diagram spatial relationships to create a network of ideas. This is not a comprehensive catalogue of learning strategies but serves to illustrate the value in carefully choosing a learning strategy to align with goals. It is important for teachers to explicitly teach a range of learning strategies, and to enable and support students to determine which form of learning strategy is most appropriate for the type of work.

Always include positive feedback

Maintaining attention throughout a task takes practice. However, teachers can support students’ focus through positive feedback. Students often adopt their teacher’s evaluations of their work as their own, which means that teachers can highly influence a student’s persistence in engaging with a task or giving up. In addition, developing a culture around celebrating mistakes as opportunities to learn is crucial. Authentically discussing areas of improvement allows room for growth, and an inclusion of positive feedback should not be interpreted as giving exclusively positive feedback. Teachers can also use their expertise to differentiate their level of positive and negative feedback according to student self-efficacy in a particular task.

Maintain an environment conducive to focus

Teachers can ensure that the study environment is conducive to focus, as a relatively quiet space for individual work is invaluable. Beyond this, students learn how to regulate their own attention and impulses best through sustained and regular practice, increasing in duration each session. While collaboration and discussion are an important part of learning, self-regulation becomes much more challenging in a noisy environment. In secondary education this is particularly important, as the higher critical thinking skills required by adolescents are severely inhibited by distractions. Teachers can further support the development of self-regulation by providing complex, open-ended tasks that give students the opportunity to practise managing distractions and maintaining focus while tackling increasingly challenging academic work.

Guide students to track their progress

At the heart of monitoring understanding lies the question: ‘what do I know, and how can I improve?’ Students can push themselves to become aware of the limits of their own knowledge through recall, practice and extension, depending on the nature of the goal. One monitoring strategy might be summarising the main points of a lesson following direct instruction. A student trying to increase her reading comprehension may pause to ask herself questions about the text (at varying levels of complexity).

Some students may wish to improve their time management skills. These students would benefit from keeping a record of how they spend their time and then comparing it with their task goals. For example, I may believe that two hours of studying with a study group each week is a strong plan in preparing for a test at the end of the term. However, I may in fact find that one of the two hours is generally spent socialising. This new information can then be used to shift my behaviour moving forward.

Practise evaluating ‘like a detective’

In the reflection and response stage, students utilise feedback from the monitoring stage to inform their shift in learning strategies or effort moving forward. This requires a high level of resilience in order to bounce back from the inevitable highs and lows in learning. Similarly, it also necessitates metacognition to dig into why certain strategies may not work, and why others might be more effective moving forward. These metacognitive strategies can be taught explicitly through talking with students about how to be a detective in reflecting on their areas of strength or growth. In addition, resilience can be fostered through conversations surrounding growth mindset, and context- rather than person-specific attribution of failure. Encouraging students to attribute poor performance on a test to lack of preparation rather than unintelligence, and supporting students to respond to feedback with an understanding that achievement is variable based on effort rather than stable personality traits, are highly predictive of the development of positive self-regulation in students.

For example, a student who has failed a maths test may feel like giving up completely in maths. However, she demonstrates emotional resilience and decides to reflect on which particular problems gave her trouble in order to shift her learning strategies. On reflection, she realises that during the previous term she never went to the library by herself, summarised the material to herself following a lesson, or asked the teacher for help. She considers the merit of these changes, how she will implement them, and makes a plan to manage her time accordingly.

Measuring self-regulation

Periodically evaluating students’ social-emotional learning serves the dual purpose of informing the teacher of their students’ progress and wellbeing, and prompting students to practise self-awareness. While formal school-wide social-emotional assessments are valuable for collecting comprehensive data, these measures are time-consuming and cannot practically be implemented more than once or twice each year. For these formal assessments, one reliable measure with strong evidence of validity is the Panorama Social-Emotional Learning Survey. However, on a fortnightly or monthly basis, teachers can informally gauge student self-regulation by asking the following questions:

• When you get stuck while learning something new, how likely are you to try a different strategy? (Not at all likely/Quite likely/Likely/Highly likely)
• Before you start on a challenging project, how often do you think about the best way to approach the project? (Almost never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
• Overall, how well do your learning strategies help you learn and focus more effectively? (Not at all well/Quite well/Well/Very well)
• How often do you stay focused on the same goal for several months at a time? (Almost never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
• When you are working on a project that matters a lot to you, how focused can you stay when there are lots of distractions? (Not at all focused/Quite focused/Focused/Very focused)
• If you have a problem while working towards an important goal, how well can you keep working? (Not at all well/Quite well/Well/Very well)
• How consistently do you pay attention and resist distractions? (Not at all consistently/Quite consistently/Consistently/Very consistently)
• When you work independently, how often do you stay focused? (Almost never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
• How often do you follow through in completing the goals you set for yourself? (Almost never/Sometimes/Fairly often/Almost always)
• How do you keep yourself motivated when a concept or lesson is not inherently interesting to you? _
• When you feel yourself becoming distracted, do you try to counteract this effect? How? ________
• The last time you experienced a setback in school, how did you respond? _______

Boekaerts, M. (1999). Self-regulated learning: Where we are today. International Journal of Educational Research , 31 (6), 445-457.

Murray, D. W., & Rosanbalm, K. (2017). Promoting self-regulation in adolescents and young adults: A practice brief. OPRE Report #2015-82. Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Panadero, E. (2017). A review of self-regulated learning: Six models and four directions for research. Frontiers in Psychology , 8 , 422.

Pintrich, P. R. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekarts, P.R. Pintrich & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Regulation (pp. 451-502). San Diego & London: Academic Press.

Weinstein, C. E., Husman, J., & Dierking, D. R. (2000). Self-regulation interventions with a focus on learning strategies. In M. Boekarts, P.R. Pintrich & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of Self-Regulation (pp. 727-747). San Diego & London: Academic Press.

Winne, P. H., & Hadwin, A. F. (1998). Studying as self-regulated learning. In D. J. Hacker, J. Dunlosky, & A. Graesser (Eds.), Metacognition in educational theory and practice (pp. 277-304). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1990). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview. Educational Psychologist , 25 (1), 3-17.

Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory into Practice , 41 (2), 64-70.

[i] Pintrich (2000).

[ii] Zimmerman (2002).

[iii] Zimmerman (2002).

PREPARED FOR THE EDUCATION HUB BY

Claire Chuter

Claire is a Ph.D. student at Johns Hopkins University – School of Education. Her primary interest lies in improving students’ empathy through virtual reality perspective-taking activities. Previously, Claire conducted research as a consultant for the non-profit organization Opportunity Education, as well as teaching in K-12 settings for four years. She holds a B.A. in Italian Studies, a B.S. in Human Development, and an M.A. in Education from the University of California, Davis. Claire enjoys developing guides with The Education Hub for teachers as they support students in their personal and academic lives.

Download this resource as a PDF

Please provide your email address and confirm you are downloading this resource for individual use or for use within your school or ECE centre only, as per our Terms of Use . Other users should contact us to about for permission to use our resources.

Interested in * —Please choose an option— Early childhood education (ECE) Schools Both ECE and schools I agree to abide by The Education Hub's Terms of Use.

Did you find this article useful?

If you enjoyed this content, please consider making a charitable donation.

Become a supporter for as little as $1 a week – it only takes a minute and enables us to continue to provide research-informed content for teachers that is free, high-quality and independent.

Become a supporter

Get unlimited access to all our webinars

Buy a webinar subscription for your school or centre and enjoy savings of up to 25%, the education hub has changed the way it provides webinar content, to enable us to continue creating our high-quality content for teachers., an annual subscription of just nz$60 per person gives you access to all our live webinars for a whole year, plus the ability to watch any of the recordings in our archive. alternatively, you can buy access to individual webinars for just $9.95 each., we welcome group enrolments, and offer discounts of up to 25%. simply follow the instructions to indicate the size of your group, and we'll calculate the price for you. , unlimited annual subscription.

• All live webinars for 12 months
• Access to our archive of over 80 webinars
• Personalised certificates
• Group savings of up to 25%

The Education Hub’s mission is to bridge the gap between research and practice in education. We want to empower educators to find, use and share research to improve their teaching practice, and then share their innovations. We are building the online and offline infrastructure to support this to improve opportunities and outcomes for students. New Zealand registered charity number: CC54471

We’ll keep you updated

Click here to receive updates on new resources.

Interested in * —Please choose an option— Early childhood education (ECE) Schools Both ECE and schools

Follow us on social media

Like what we do please support us.

© The Education Hub 2024 All rights reserved | Site design: KOPARA

• Terms of use
• Privacy policy

Privacy Overview

Thanks for visiting our site. To show your support for the provision of high-quality research-informed resources for school teachers and early childhood educators, please take a moment to register.

Thanks, Nina

• Visit the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Apply to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Give to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Search Form

• Self-Regulation

What is Self Regulation?

The ability to self-regulate has been viewed as a desirable quality throughout history because of its positive affects on behavior and the acquisition of skills (Reid, 1993). The appeal of self-regulation and its positive effects on behavior and educational outcomes has prompted much research in this area. "Self-Regulation refers to the self-directive process through which learners transform their mental abilities into task related skills" (Zimmerman, 2001). This is the method or procedure that learners use to manage and organize their thoughts and convert them into skills used for learning. Self-regulation is the process of continuously monitoring progress toward a goal, checking outcomes, and redirecting unsuccessful efforts (Berk, 2003). In order for students to be self-regulated they need to be aware of their own thought process, and be motivated to actively participate in their own learning process (Zimmerman, 2001). 

Why use Self-Regulation?

Self-regulation is desirable because of the effects that it has on educational and behavioral outcomes. The use of Self-Regulation techniques are a way to actively engage otherwise passive students in their academic instruction. Students need to view learning as an activity that they do for themselves in a proactive manner, rather than viewing learning as a covert event that happens to them as a result of instruction (Zimmerman, 2001). Allowing students to take a more active role in their education puts students in the driver's seat and in charge. 

Who is Self-Regulation good for?

Self-regulation techniques are widely used. Successful people and learners use self-regulation to effectively and efficiently accomplish a task. They will regulate different strategies and monitor the effectiveness of that strategy while evaluating and determining the next course of action. Generally, successful learners already utilize various forms of self-regulation. Instruction in the use of self-regulation is typically directed towards students who are not currently using such techniques, and consequently are not successful in educational settings. Through the use of strategies and self-regulation, performance can be greatly improved. The use of self-regulation techniques assists students in performing tasks more effectively and independently. For example, successful learners will constantly check their comprehension. When successful learners read a passage, and realize that they do not understand what they have read, they will go back and reread, and question or summarize what is that they need to understand. On the other hand, when a student with learning disabilities reads a passage, and realizes that they do not understand what they have read, they tend to shut down, or just continue to read because they do not recognize the goal of reading the passage. Students with learning disabilities tend to be passive learners, often failing to evaluate and monitor their own learning, in order to compensate they allow others to regulate their learning or rely on the assistance of others to successfully complete a task. They lack these essential executive control functions, which are necessary to complete complex academic tasks independently. Components of Executive Control Process: 

1. Coordinating metacognitive knowledge - Regulating cognitive and metacognitive knowledge, understanding one's own knowledge, and thought process. 

2. Planning - Using a deliberate and organized approach to attack a task.

3. Monitoring - Assessing comprehension while progressing through a task, and checking for effectiveness, testing, evaluating and revising strategies.

4. Failure detection - While progressing through a task, detecting when there is a misunderstanding or an error is made. 

5. Failure correction - When an error is detected, going back and correcting any mistakes. Through instruction in various self-regulation techniques students with learning disabilities can be successful at "the self-directive process through which learners transform their mental abilities into task related skills" (Zimmerman, 2001). 

Self-Monitoring

Different theories of self-regulation exist, but for our purposes the guidelines that these theories provide to direct interventions are more important. These guidelines are consistent with the various self-regulation interventions. The two major guidelines derived from theoretical perspectives are: 1. The behavior to be targeted has to have value to the individual intended to self-regulate that behavior. If the target behavior was not seen as valuable there would be no reason to self-regulate that behavior, it would serve no purpose. It is also important to keep in mind that the particular behavior itself may not be valuable or rewarding, but the effect that the behavior produces or the individuals' perception of the behavior may be valuable. 2. The target behavior needs to be both definable and observable. Defining the behavior specifically and objectively is essential. If the behavior is not defined in detail, it will be difficult or impossible to self-regulate. The behavior needs to be well articulated so that anyone would be able to understand the behavior being targeted, and the occurrence of that behavior can easily be observed. It does not need to be overt and observable to outside individuals, but it does need to be observable to the individual intended to self-regulate. Harris, Reid, and Graham (in press), describe four cornerstones of self-regulation: self-monitoring, self-instruction, goal setting, and self-reinforcement. We will define and describe each independently, however they are all interrelated and can be used independently or in combination. -Self-Monitoring of Attention

-Self-monitoring of Performance

-Self-Monitoring of Strategy Performance

-Implementing Self-Monitoring

-Common Questions

Self-Instruction

We often talk to ourselves. This spontaneous speech of this is referred to as private speech and serves no communicative function. It is part of normal early childhood development and tends to peak around age eight and to disappear by around age ten. Researchers realized that this private speech often served to help individuals perform tasks. These researchers utilized this phenomenon as an intervention called self-instruction in which individuals are literally taught to "talk themselves" through a task. Self-instruction uses induced self-statements. Self-instruction serves many purposes. It may aid in orienting, organizing, and/or structuring behavior. Children will use private speech to consciously understand or focus on a problem or situation and to overcome difficulties. The goal of self-instruction is to go from modeled, induced, strategic, task-relevant, private speech to covert, strategic, task-relevant, private speech.

-Functions of Self-Instruction

-Variables Which Affect Self-Instruction

-Types of Self-Instruction

-Self-Instruction Training

Goal Setting

Goal setting is a common practice among successful learners. Goals allow us to see progress that is made, enhance motivation, provide structure and focus attention, and serve an informational function. Goal setting also provides a logical "rule of thumb" for attacking a problem. In research and practice goal setting has been shown to be an influential and valuable means for improving performance. The expected and anticipated fulfillment gained by reaching or making progress toward a goal provides motivation to continue until the goal is reached or exceeded (Harris, Reid, Graham, in press). 

Properties of Goals

To use goal setting, it is important to consider the properties of effective goals. There are three critical properties of goals: 1. Specificity - Goals should be well defined and set clear standards. This provides the student with a thorough understanding of what is expected. This will also make it easier for them to gauge their progress. 2. Difficulty - This refers to how challenging the goal is for the individual. It is important to set goals at a moderate level of difficulty for the student. Goals should be set at a level of difficulty so that the student has to put forth effort and utilize resources, but are still attainable. Setting goals that can be achieved with little or no effort will not increase a student's motivation; setting goals that are too difficult will be overwhelming for students. 3. Proximity - Proximal goals are goals that can be completed in the near future. Distal goals are goals set to be completed only in the future (i.e. long-term goals). Proximal goals produce greater performance because they are more immediately attainable. Distal goals should be broken down into to several proximal goals set to reach that long-term goal.

Self-Reinforcement

Self-reinforcement occurs when a student chooses a reinforcer and self-administers it when criterion for performance is reached. For self-reinforcement to be successful, students should anticipate providing themselves with the reinforcer when they have reached an acceptable level of performance (after I get all my math homework done, I can go outside and play.) The reinforcer must also be readily accessible for the student to access, at least eventually. There are four steps involved in teaching children in self-reinforcement. 1. Determining standards and setting evaluative criteria - Students need to be able to understand when they have met the requirements necessary to be able to self-reinforce. For example, a student may set a goal of writing two pages of a report and when those two pages are complete they can play a video game for 15 minutes. They will need to determine their standards for writing two pages (organization, writing, revision, editing, or whatever it may be). 2. Selecting a reinforcer to be earned, and controlling access to that reward, making it only attainable after performance of the target behavior has occurred - The reinforcer needs to be something that the student can only receive after they perform the target behavior and are not able to obtain it otherwise. It cannot be readily accessible. 3. Performance evaluation to determine whether the set criterion was met - They need to be able to evaluate their performance against the set standards. For instance, using the writing example, they need to be able to evaluate their writing performance and decide if they have successfully met the standards of writing two pages. 4. Self-administration of the reward - The students need to be able to dispense, or provide themselves with, the reinforcer. This is crucial if the process is to be a successful "self"-reinforcement.

Bibliography

Zimmerman, B.J. (2001). Theories of Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement: An Overview and Analysis. In Zimmerman, B.J. & Schunk, D.H. (Ed.), Self-Regulated Learning and Academic Achievement: Theoretical Perspectives (pp. 1-65). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. Reid, R. (1993). Implementing self-monitoring interventions in the classroom: Lessons from research. Monograph in Behavior Disorders: Severe Behavior Disorders in Youth, 16, 43-54. Reid, R. (1996). Research in self-monitoring with students with learning disabilities: The present, the prospects, the pitfalls. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 29, 317-331. Schunk, D.H. (1990). Goal setting and self-efficacy during self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 25, 71-86. Braswell, L. (1998). Self-regulation training for children with ADHD: A reply to Harris and Schmidt. ADHD Report, 6(1), 1-3. Harris, K. R., Reid, R., & Graham, S. (in press). Self-regulation among children with LD and ADHD. In B. Wong (Ed.), Learning about learning disabilities. San Diego, CA: Elsevier. Harris, K.R. & Schmidt, T. (1997). Learning self-regulation in the classroom. ADHD Report, 5(2), 1-6. Harris, K.R. & Schmidt, T. (1998). Developing self-regulation does not equal self-instructional training: Reply to Braswell. ADHD Report, 6(2), 7-11. Harris, K.R. (1990). Developing self-regulated learners: The role of private speech and self-instructions. Educational Psychologist, 25, 35-49. Berk, L.E. (2003). Child development. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

• Printer-friendly version

Cognitive Strategy Instruction

• Teaching Strategies
• Lesson Plans
• Mathematics
• Study Skills

• Knowledge Base
• General Essays

Self-Regulation Essay

• Author Kimberly Ball
• Category General Essays

Disclaimer: This paper has been submitted by a student. This is not a sample of the work written by professional academic writers.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this work are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of StudySaurus.

Introduction

The ability to manage and control one’s behaviors defines self-regulation. By self- regulating a person will be able to better pay attention to important information that they need to know. By managing behaviors this can help people to stay aligned to what is socially acceptable in today’s society. Self-regulation works to help a person to follow rules, pay attention even if distracted, be able to handle their anger, and to be patient enough to figure their way through challenging times. This is an ongoing life process that continues to change and develop. Not everyone handles the stresses of everyday life in the same manner (Lowry, 2016). Self-regulation may be easy for one person and more difficult for another person. The boom of technology in recent years has impacted how people may self-regulate their behavior.

Technology’s Influence on the Ability to Self-Regulate

Technology seems to go hand in hands with our daily activities. This is especially true for students of online learning. Knowing how to use the technology and navigate through the website for their online school is crucial for a student’s success. Research has shown that the social cognitive theory gives a framework for determining the trait of self-regulating behavior that is associated with the success of students who study online (Lynch & Dembo, 2004). A positive online learning experience is the result of the student being self-efficient. A student’s ability to use technology easily to conduct research and attain course material to study, creates a feeling that the student is competent and comfortable of using technology to complete their courses and helps the student to becomes self-efficient in their learning (Young-Ju, Bong, & Choi, 2000).

Technology can help to ease and calm emotions that may rise throughout one’s day. If a person is missing a friend who lives far away they can be cheered up by face timing that friend on their iPhone. This helps a person to emotionally self-regulate their feeling of sadness by taking action to reach out to their friend to cure the feeling of missing that person. When a person can calm themselves down or change the emotion they are feeling to a better more uplifting feeling they are emotionally self-regulating behavior.

Recent research has shown that people who keep checking their mobile electronics are less able to manage their impulses leading to the likelihood of not being able to delay gratification (Wilmer & Chein, 2016). Devices such as IPhone, tablets and laptops have allowed technology to go mobile. Since technology is now at our finger tips at any time we can access whatever we want, whenever we want. This can affect self-regulating behavior in a negative way, impulse control can become harder to delay gratification (Wilmer & Chein, 2016). Becoming bored can easily be taken care of with mindless searching on the internet, games or communicating with others using electronic devices. Dependency on electronic devices can take away from socially interacting with others (Bindley, 2011). The other downside to constantly being connect to a mobile electronic device, is being bombarded by commercials about products. There is no need to wait to purchase, you can click a button right from the advertisement and purchase. This can influence compulsive buying (Makolajczak-Dagrauwe & Brengman, 2014). Impulse control has become harder to develop and manage with technology keeping us connect to anything we want at any time.

Conflict Between Impulse and Socially Beneficial Behavior

When a person uses self-regulation, they are watching and controlling their own feelings, thought and behaviors. While at the same time changing their feelings, thoughts and behaviors to properly respond to different situations and challenges (Cook & Cook, 2014). Self-regulation helps to respond quickly which sometimes puts their own desires in the back ground to focus on the issue at hand (Bindley, 2011). Daily routine can sometimes become boring and monotonous, self-regulation helps individuals to push through everyday tasks even if they do not want to.

Beginning in the early years of child development the self-regulation process starts to form, this process continues throughout the rest of one’s lifetime (Bindley, 2011). Temptation and immediate gratification are kept under control and in check using self-control. Using self- control in these times is known as delayed gratification (Cook & Cook, 2014). Being able to regulate one’s behavior is using self-control in the right way (Lowry, 2016). Self-control is important to help control impulses that one may have such as smoking cigarettes, taking illegal drugs or to not drink alcohol. One may want to go to a movie instead of doing homework, yet they know if they see the movie they will be too tired to do their homework after. The person may come to the conclusion it is more important to get the homework completed since they can always see the movie later.

Earlier research has implied that learning is accentuated more by a person’s personal experiences. Albert Bandura developed the social cognitive theory that suggests learning is altered based on behavioral, cognitive as well as environmental influences (Johri & Misra, 2014). Bandura demonstrated that a good portion of learning happens from watching and observing the behaviors of other people. An attribute that comes from self-regulation is the behavior of personal motivation. This has been seen with students who are attending online colleges. Once a person feels they can handle the technology and studies that come along with attending an online college, they are personally motivated to achieve their goals through attaining the right skills to succeed.

Self-regulation is a constant continual evolution throughout one’s lifetime, starting in the early years of childhood development. Current information shows that self-regulation, when developed correctly can help individuals to get through most of life’s challenges (Korinek & deFur, 2016). Self-regulation can help individuals react in a more positive way with stressors that may come up in their life time. Being able to rebound to a place where a person becomes calm after being agitated or angry is a positive trait that comes out of self-regulation. Throughout a person’s life they will be introduced by many different forms of challenges and situations they will need to get through, self-regulation will help a person in these times. Self-regulation can help a person achieve personal goals and achievements. When a person is reaching their goals, conditions become more positive for social interaction, learning and overall sense of well-being.

Was this material helpful?

Related essays, about studysaurus, community. knowledge. success..

StudySaurus is run by two uni-students that still get a kick out of learning new things. We hope to share these experiences with you.

Ideas ,  concepts ,  tutorials,   essay papers  – everything we would’ve liked to have known, seen or heard during our high-school & UNI years, we want to bring to YOU.

Privacy & Cookies Policy Terms and Conditions DMCA Request

• Bipolar Disorder
• Therapy Center
• When To See a Therapist
• Types of Therapy
• Best Online Therapy
• Best Couples Therapy
• Best Family Therapy
• Managing Stress
• Sleep and Dreaming
• Understanding Emotions
• Self-Improvement
• Healthy Relationships
• Student Resources
• Personality Types
• Guided Meditations
• Verywell Mind Insights
• 2024 Verywell Mind 25
• Mental Health in the Classroom
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Review Board
• Crisis Support

How to Develop and Practice Self-Regulation

Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of The Anxiety Workbook and founder of the website About Social Anxiety. She has a Master's degree in clinical psychology.

Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

Tony Anderson / Getty Images

How Self-Regulation Develops

Common self-regulation problems.

• Effective Strategies
• How to Practice

Frequently Asked Questions

Self-regulation is the ability to control one's behavior, emotions, and thoughts in the pursuit of long-term goals. More specifically, emotional self-regulation refers to the ability to manage disruptive emotions and impulses—in other words, to think before acting.

Self-regulation also involves the ability to rebound from disappointment and to act in a way consistent with your values. It is one of the five key components of emotional intelligence .

This article discusses how self-regulation develops and the important impact it can have. It also covers some common problems you may face and what you can do to self-regulate more effectively.

Your ability to self-regulate as an adult has roots in your childhood. Learning how to self-regulate is an important skill that children learn both for emotional maturity and, later, for social connections.

In an ideal situation, a toddler who throws tantrums grows into a child who learns how to tolerate uncomfortable feelings without throwing a fit, and later into an adult who is able to control impulses to act based on uncomfortable feelings.

In essence, maturity reflects the ability to face emotional, social, and cognitive threats in the environment with patience and thoughtfulness. If this description reminds you of mindfulness, that's no accident— mindfulness does indeed relate to the ability to self-regulate.

Why Self-Regulation Is Important

Self-regulation involves taking a pause between a feeling and an action—taking the time to think things through, make a plan, wait patiently. Children often struggle with these behaviors, and adults may as well.

It's easy to see how a lack of self-regulation will cause problems in life. A child who yells or hits other children out of frustration will not be popular among peers and may face discipline at school.

An adult with poor self-regulation skills may lack self-confidence and self-esteem and have trouble handling stress and frustration. Often, this might result in anger or anxiety. In more severe cases, it can even lead to being diagnosed with a mental health condition.

Qualities of Self-Regulators

In general, people who are adept at self-regulating tend to be able to:

• Act in accordance with their values
• Calm themselves when upset
• Cheer themselves when feeling down
• Maintain open communication
• Persist through difficult times
• Put forth their best effort
• Remain flexible and adapting to situations
• See the good in others
• Stay clear about their intentions
• Take control of situations when necessary
• View challenges as opportunities

Self-regulation allows you to act in accordance with your deeply held values or social conscience and to express yourself appropriately. If you value academic achievement, it will allow you to study instead of slack off before a test. If you value helping others, it will allow you to help a coworker with a project, even if you are on a tight deadline yourself.

In its most basic form, self-regulation allows us to be more resilient and bounce back from failure while also staying calm under pressure. Researchers have found that self-regulation skills are tied to a range of positive health outcomes. This includes better resilience to stress, increased happiness, and better overall well-being.

Self-regulation can play an important role in relationships, well-being, and overall success in life. People who can manage their emotions and control their behavior are better able to manage stress, deal with conflict, and achieve their goals.

How do problems with self-regulation develop? It could start early, such as an infant being neglected. A child who does not feel safe and secure, or who is unsure whether their needs will be met, may have trouble self-soothing and self-regulating.

Later, a child, teen, or adult may struggle with self-regulation, either because this ability was not developed during childhood, or because of a lack of strategies for managing difficult feelings. When left unchecked, over time this could lead to more serious issues such as mental health disorders and risky behaviors such as substance use .

Effective Skills for Self-Regulation

If self-regulation is so important, why were most of us never taught strategies for using this skill? Most often, parents, teachers, and other adults expect that children will "grow out of" the tantrum phase. While this is true for the most part, all children and adults can benefit from learning concrete strategies for self-regulation.

Mindfulness

According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), mindfulness is "the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally."

By engaging in skills such as focused breathing and gratitude, mindfulness enables us to put some space between ourselves and our reactions, leading to better focus and feelings of calmness and relaxation.

In a 2019 review of 27 research studies, mindfulness was shown to improve attention, which in turn helped with regulating negative emotions and improving executive function .

Cognitive Reappraisal

Cognitive reappraisal, or cognitive reframing , is another strategy that can be used to improve self-regulation abilities. This strategy involves changing thought patterns. Specifically, cognitive reappraisal involves reinterpreting a situation in order to change the emotional response to it.

For example, imagine a friend did not return your calls or texts for several days. Rather than thinking that this reflected something about yourself, such as "my friend hates me," you might instead think, "my friend must be really busy." Research has shown that using cognitive reappraisal in everyday life is related to experiencing more positive and fewer negative emotions.

In a 2016 study examining the link between self-regulation strategies (i.e., mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal, and emotion suppression) and emotional well-being, researchers found cognitive reappraisal to be associated with daily positive emotions, including feelings of enthusiasm, happiness, satisfaction, and excitement.

Some other useful strategies for self-regulation include acceptance and problem-solving. In contrast, unhelpful strategies that people sometimes use include avoidance, distraction, suppression, and worrying.

You can improve your self-regulation skills by practicing mindfulness and changing how you think about the situation.

How Do You Practice Self-Regulation?

If you or your child needs help with self-regulation, there are strategies you can use to improve skills in this area.

Helping Kids With Self-Regulation

In children, parents can help develop self-regulation through routines (e.g., regular mealtimes and consistent bedtime routines). Routines help children learn what to expect, which makes it easier for them to feel comfortable.

When children act in ways that don't demonstrate self-regulation, ignore their requests. For example, if they interrupt a conversation, don't stop your discussion to attend to their needs. Tell that that they will need to wait.

Self-Regulation Tips for Adults

The first step to practicing self-regulation is to recognize that everyone has a choice in how to react to situations. While you may feel like life has dealt you a bad hand, it's not the hand you are dealt, but how you react to it that matters most.

• Recognize that in every situation you have three options : approach, avoidance , and attack. While it may feel as though your choice of behavior is out of your control, it's not. Your feelings may sway you more toward one path, but you are more than those feelings.
• Become aware of your emotions . Do you feel like running away from a difficult situation? Do you feel like lashing out in anger at someone who has hurt you?
• Monitor your body to get clues about how you are feeling if it is not immediately obvious to you. For example, a rapidly increasing heart rate may be a sign that you are entering a state of rage or even experiencing a panic attack.

Start to restore balance by focusing on your deeply held values, rather than those transient emotions. Look beyond momentary discomfort to the larger picture.

Recognizing your options can help you put your self-regulation skills into practice. Focus on identifying what you are feeling, but remember that feelings are not facts. Giving yourself time to stay calm and deliberate your options can help you make better choices.

A Word From Verywell

Once you've learned this delicate balancing act, you will begin to self-regulate more often, and it will become a way of life for you. Developing self-regulation skills will improve your resilience and ability to face difficult circumstances in life.

However, if you find you are unable to teach yourself to self-regulate, consider consulting a  mental health professional . A trained therapist can help you learn and implement strategies and skills specific to your situation. Therapy can also be a great place to practice those skills for use in your everyday life.

You can practice self-regulation staying calm and thinking carefully before you react. Engaging in relaxation tactics like deep breathing or mindfulness can help you keep your cool while deliberately considering the consequences of your actions can help you focus on the potential outcomes.

Emotional intelligence refers to a person's ability to recognize, interpret, and regulate emotions. This ability plays an important part in self-regulation and also contributes to the development and maintenance of healthy relationships.

You can help teach your child self-control by managing your own stress, remaining calm, and modeling effective self-regulation skills. You can also strengthen this ability by helping children recognize their emotions, teaching problem-solving skills, setting limits, and enforcing rules with natural consequences.

Gillebaart M. The 'operational' definition of self-control .  Front Psychol . 2018;9:1231. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01231

Tao T, Wang L, Fan C, Gao W.  Development of self-control in children aged 3 to 9 years: Perspective from a dual-systems model .  Sci Rep . 2015;4(1):7272. doi:10.1038/srep07272

Friese M, Messner C, Schaffner Y.  Mindfulness meditation counteracts self-control depletion .  Conscious Cogn.  2012;21(2):1016-22. doi:10.1016/j.concog.2012.01.008

Hampson SE, Edmonds GW, Barckley M, Goldberg LR, Dubanoski JP, Hillier TA. A Big Five approach to self-regulation: personality traits and health trajectories in the Hawaii longitudinal study of personality and health .  Psychol Health Med . 2016;21(2):152-162. doi:10.1080/13548506.2015.1061676

Hofmann W, Luhmann M, Fisher RR, Vohs KD, Vaumeister RF.  Yes, but are they happy? Effects of trait self-control on affective well-being and life satisfaction .  J Person . 2014;82(4):265-277. doi:10.1111/jopy.12050

Spratt EG, Friedenberg SL, Swenson CC, et al. The effects of early neglect on cognitive, language, and behavioral functioning in childhood . Psychology . 2012;3(2):175-182. doi:10.4236/psych.2012.32026

Leyland A, Rowse G, Emerson L-M. Experimental effects of mindfulness inductions on self-regulation: Systematic review and meta-analysis . Emotion . 2019;19(1):108-122. doi:10.1037/emo0000425

Brockman R, Ciarrochi J, Parker P, Kashdan T. Emotion regulation strategies in daily life: mindfulness, cognitive reappraisal and emotion suppression . Cogn Behav Ther . 2017;46(2):91-113. doi:10.1080/16506073.2016.1218926

Giles GE, Horner CA, Anderson E, Elliott GM, Brunyé TT. When anger motivates: approach states selectively influence running performance .  Front Psychol . 2020;11:1663. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01663

Kabat-Zinn J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness (15th Anniversary Ed.) . Delta Trade Paperback/Bantam Dell.

Naragon-Gainey K, McMahon TP, Chacko TP. The structure of common emotion regulation strategies: A meta-analytic examination . Psychol Bull . 2017;143(4):384-427. doi:10.1037/bul0000093

By Arlin Cuncic, MA Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of The Anxiety Workbook and founder of the website About Social Anxiety. She has a Master's degree in clinical psychology.

• Type 2 Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Digestive Health
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Diet & Nutrition
• Supplements
• Health Insurance
• Public Health
• Patient Rights
• Caregivers & Loved Ones
• End of Life Concerns
• Health News
• Thyroid Test Analyzer
• Doctor Discussion Guides
• Hemoglobin A1c Test Analyzer
• Lipid Test Analyzer
• Complete Blood Count (CBC) Analyzer
• What to Buy
• Editorial Process
• Meet Our Medical Expert Board

What Is Self-Regulation?

• Self-Regulation Issues
• Ways to Improve

Self-regulation refers to the ability to control your behavior and manage your thoughts and emotions in appropriate ways. It’s why you go to school or work even though you don’t always feel like it, or why you don’t eat pizza for every meal.

Self-regulation typically begins with brain development between age 3 and age 7. However, certain neurodevelopmental disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ) can lead to challenges with self-regulation. Kids can struggle when routines are disrupted, while chronic stress in adults can interfere with self-regulation.

This article will help you to learn more about what self-regulation is and how to strengthen this important skill.

The Good Brigade / Getty Images

Self-regulation involves being aware of your behavior and how it can help you to reach your goals. The American Psychological Association (APA) defines self-regulation as “the control of one’s behavior through self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement.”

People who develop self-regulation skills are able to assess whether their behavior is appropriate and can redirect themselves as needed.

Self-Regulation vs. Self-Control

While self-regulation may sound a lot like self-control, the two are defined differently. Self-control is about controlling and inhibiting impulses. Self-regulation, meanwhile, is a broader term that refers to the ways people steer their behavior in order to achieve particular goals.

Some models of self-control consider its role in short-term responses, while self-regulation is more of an overarching strategy for achieving and maintaining these goals. Self-control is a day-in, day-out part of self-regulation.

You may want to be healthy and fit, for example, and self-regulation is what sets up the framework so that you routinely choose more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Self-control is what keeps you from eating more chocolate on a specific occasion or skipping a workout on any given day.

Why Self-Regulation Is Important

Self-regulation helps people to handle stress and conflict while strengthening relationships and overall well-being.

Children often have the impulse to lash out physically when they're angry or upset—and sometimes adults do, too. Self-regulation helps us control those impulses and act in more appropriate ways. And being able to calm back down has physical effects, like slowing a pounding heart.

Emotionally

If a person is upset, sad, angry, or excited, self-regulation helps them calm down, regulate their feelings , and then behave in acceptable and productive ways. It also helps control emotions so that they are not overwhelming.

Self-regulation is necessary in order to learn and perform, in school or on the job. It helps people sit still at a desk, listen to what needs to be done, and refocus after completing a task.

Self-regulation allows people to behave in socially acceptable ways and build relationships by not letting strong emotions or impulses dictate their behavior.

Examples of Self-Regulation

At its most basic level, self-regulation is being able to manage your emotions and behaviors in order to function appropriately in everyday life. Examples of self-regulation include:

• Being able to handle intense emotions like frustration, disappointment, or embarrassment
• Being able to calm down after something exciting has happened
• Refocusing attention after finishing one task and starting another
• Controlling impulses
• Behaving appropriately and getting along with other people

Causes of Self-Regulation Problems

Self-regulation failure is common and both the causes and the consequences can be fairly trivial. One study looked at a number of self-regulation goals (healthy eating, saving money, staying calm) and found that in the preceding 24 hours, people experienced failure on about half of the five goals they said, on average, they were trying to meet.

Some setbacks are linked to confidence in the ability to self-regulate, or a specific set of circumstances or stressors. Others can be more chronic and serious. A history of trauma is often a part of self-regulation failure. So are other diagnoses including:

• Eating disorders
• Substance use disorders and addiction
• Chronic stress

In other cases, an impulse control disorder (like oppositional defiant disorder , or ODD) may be at play. This is a common diagnosis in kids and is often co-occurring in those with ADHD. Other conditions that can contribute to problems with self-regulation include:

• Compulsive behaviors and obsessions that override self-regulation
• Problems with executive function (decision-making about behaviors), which often have underlying medical reasons like a stroke or dementia

Researchers continue to explore environmental, genetic, and developmental factors that can contribute to problems with self-regulation.

How to Improve Self-Regulation

Like many coping skills, self-regulation can be strengthened and improved. However, what works for one person may not work for another, so feel free to try different approaches.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is being aware of one’s own emotions, behaviors, and thoughts. Being self-aware will help you understand your motivations and behavior choices.

Research suggests that intentional self-awareness programs with young children boost their capacity for self-regulating emotions, attention, and behaviors. One study found that young children exposed to yoga even used more language that reflected awareness of self-regulation skills.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a way of thinking that involves staying in the present moment and being aware of your environment, your thoughts, and how your body feels. Practicing mindfulness supports self-regulation by encouraging you to slow down and behave in a more conscious way.

A review of 18 studies in children across five countries found support for using mindfulness techniques to improve self-regulation and limit emotional and behavioral challenges.

Stress Management

Chronic stress can cause mood swings and difficulty concentrating which in turn can interfere with your ability to self-regulate. You can help get stress under control with stress management techniques that include:

• Deep breathing
• Getting enough sleep

One study of healthcare providers focused on how chronic stress affected a part of the brain called the prefrontal cortex , which plays a key role in self-regulation. Exercise, a healthy diet, and improved work-life balance improved their symptoms.

Self-regulation is an essential skill for physical, social, emotional, and mental well-being. Poor self-regulation can impact your life in detrimental ways, potentially causing problems at work or school and keeping you from developing healthy relationships.

It doesn’t always come easily to people, but techniques like self-awareness, mindfulness practices, and stress reduction can help you develop and strengthen your self-regulation abilities. If you find yourself struggling with self-regulation, you may find it helpful to talk to a psychotherapist. They can help you develop coping skills and tools that are specific to your needs.

Bockmann JO, Yu SY. Using Mindfulness-Based Interventions to Support Self-regulation in Young Children: A Review of the Literature . Early Child Educ J . 2023;51(4):693-703. doi:10.1007/s10643-022-01333-2.

Child Mind Institute. How Can We Help Kids With Self-Regulation?

American Psychological Association. APA dictionary of psychology.

Gillebaart M. The 'Operational' Definition of Self-Control .  Front Psychol . 2018;9:1231. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01231

Blair C, Raver CC. School readiness and self-regulation: a developmental psychobiological approach . Annu Rev Psychol . 2015;66:711-731. doi:10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015221

Nigg JT. Annual Research Review: On the relations among self-regulation, self-control, executive functioning, effortful control, cognitive control, impulsivity, risk-taking, and inhibition for developmental psychopathology . J Child Psychol Psychiatry . 2017 Apr;58(4):361-383. doi:10.1111/jcpp.12675.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Self-Regulation .

Adriaanse MA, Ten Broeke P. Beyond prevention: Regulating responses to self-regulation failure to avoid a set-back effec t. Appl Psychol Health Well Being . 2022 Feb;14(1):278-293. doi:10.1111/aphw.12302.

Arnsten AFT, Shanafelt T. Physician Distress and Burnout: The Neurobiological Perspective . Mayo Clin Proc . 2021 Mar;96(3):763-769. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2020.12.027. 

Ghosh A, Ray A, Basu A.  Oppositional defiant disorder: current insight .  Psychol Res Behav Manag . 2017;10:353-367. doi:10.2147/PRBM.S120582

Karlsson Linnér R, Mallard TT, Barr PB, Sanchez-Roige S, Madole JW, Driver MN, et al . Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction . Nat Neurosci . 2021 Oct;24(10):1367-1376. doi:10.1038/s41593-021-00908-3.

Rashedi RN, Schonert-Reichl KA. Yoga and willful embodiment: A new direction for improving education .  Educational Psychology Review.  2019;31:725–734. doi:10.1007/s10648-019-09481-5.

National Alliance on Mental Illness. Managing stress.

By Jaime R. Herndon, MS, MPH Herndon is a freelance health/medical writer with a graduate certificate in science writing from Johns Hopkins University.

Self-Regulation in Childhood: A Developmental Perspective

• First Online: 17 October 2017

Cite this chapter

• Yair Ziv Ph.D. 3 ,
• Moti Benita Ph.D. 3 &
• Inbar Sofri 3  

Part of the book series: Autism and Child Psychopathology Series ((ACPS))

4189 Accesses

3 Citations

Self-regulation is an essential concept in the study of human development. However, the definitions of the term “self-regulation” and its components are not as clear as may be expected. In addition, these definitions are likely to change across childhood as a function of age and development. Consequently, it is an important aim of this chapter to review the concept of self-regulation from a developmental perspective in order to further our understanding of the similarities and differences between self-regulatory capacities as a function of age and developmental milestones. The chapter is divided into four main sections. In the first section, we look at the different definitions of self-regulation as they appear in the literature and suggest an informative definition of that construct. The second discusses the development of self-regulation from infancy to middle childhood. The third section presents different methods of assessing self-regulation (again, as a function of age and development), and the fourth discusses the links between self-regulation and psychopathology and their implications to field practitioners, focusing mainly on clinical and educational implications. We summarize the chapter with a set of conclusions and recommendations for future research in the field.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Alloway, T. P., & Gathercole, S. E. (2008). Working Memory Rating Scale (WMRS): Manual . London: Pearson Education.

Google Scholar  

Alloway, T. P., Gathercole, S. E., & Pickering, S. J. (2006). Verbal and visuospatial short-term and working memory in children: Are they separable? Child Development , 77 (6), 1698–1716.

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Baddeley, A. (2000). The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory? Trends in Cognitive Sciences , 4 (11), 417–423.

Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 50 (2), 248–287.

Article   Google Scholar  

Barkley, R. A. (1997). Behavioral inhibition, sustained attention, and executive functions: Constructing a unifying theory of ADHD. Psychological Bulletin , 121 (1), 65.

Beebe, B., & Lachmann, F. M. (1998). Co-constructing inner and relational processes: Self-and mutual regulation in infant research and adult treatment. Psychoanalytic Psychology , 15 (4), 480.

Best, J. R. (2010). Effects of physical activity on children’s executive function: Contributions of experimental research on aerobic exercise. Developmental Review , 30 (4), 331–351.

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Best, J. R., & Miller, P. H. (2010). A developmental perspective on executive function. Child Development , 81 (6), 1641–1660.

Bierman, K. L., Nix, R. L., Greenberg, M. T., Blair, C., & Domitrovich, C. E. (2008). Executive functions and school readiness intervention: Impact, moderation, and mediation in the Head Start REDI program. Development and Psychopathology , 20 (03), 821–843.

Blair, C. (2003). Behavioral inhibition and behavioral activation in young children: Relations with self-regulation and adaptation to preschool in children attending Head Start. Developmental Psychobiology , 42 (3), 301–311.

Blair, C., & Razza, R. P. (2007). Relating effortful control, executive function, and false belief understanding to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten. Child Development , 78 (2), 647–663.

Block, J. H., & Block, J. (1979). The role of ego-control and ego-resiliency in the organization of behavior. In W. A. Collins (Ed.), Minnesota symposia on child psychology (Vol. 13). Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum.

Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. J. (2007). Tools of the mind . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Bridges, L. J., & Grolnick, W. S. (1995). The development of emotional self-regulation in infancy and early childhood. Social Development , 15 , 185–211.

Bridgett, D. J., Burt, N. M., Edwards, E. S., & Deater-Deckard, K. (2015). Intergenerational transmission of self-regulation: A multidisciplinary review and integrative conceptual framework. Psychological Bulletin , 141 (3), 602.

Bridgett, D. J., Oddi, K. B., Laake, L. M., Murdock, K. W., & Bachmann, M. N. (2013). Integrating and differentiating aspects of self-regulation: Effortful control, executive functioning, and links to negative affectivity. Emotion , 13 (1), 47.

Bronson, M. (2000). Self-regulation in early childhood: Nature and nurture . New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Bryce, D., Szűcs, D., Soltész, F., & Whitebread, D. (2011). The development of inhibitory control: An averaged and single-trial lateralized readiness potential study. NeuroImage , 57 (3), 671–685.

Buss, K. A., Kiel, E. J., Morales, S., & Robinson, E. (2014). Toddler inhibitory control, bold response to novelty, and positive affect predict externalizing symptoms in kindergarten. Social Development , 23 (2), 232–249.

Capaldi, D. M., & Rothbart, M. K. (1992). Development and validation of an early adolescent temperament measure. The Journal of Early Adolescence , 12 (2), 153–173.

Carlson, S. M. (2005). Developmentally sensitive measures of executive function in preschool children. Developmental Neuropsychology , 28 (2), 595–616.

Carlson, S. M., Davis, A. C., & Leach, J. G. (2005). Less is more executive function and symbolic representation in preschool children. Psychological Science , 16 (8), 609–616.

Carlson, S. M., & Moses, L. J. (2001). Individual differences in inhibitory control and children’s theory of mind. Child Development , 72 (4), 1032–1053.

Carrasco, M. Á., Holgado-Tello, F. P., Delgado, B., & González-Peña, P. (2016). Reactive temperament traits and behavioural problems in children: The mediating role of effortful control across sex and age. European Journal of Developmental Psychology , 13 (2), 197–212.

Carver, C. S., Johnson, S. L., & Joormann, J. (2008). Serotonergic function, two-mode models of self-regulation, and vulnerability to depression: What depression has in common with impulsive aggression. Psychological Bulletin , 134 (6), 912.

Choe, D. E., Olson, S. L., & Sameroff, A. J. (2014). Effortful control moderates bidirectional effects between children’s externalizing behavior and their mothers’ depressive symptoms. Child Development , 85 (2), 643–658.

Choe, D. E., Shaw, D. S., Brennan, L. M., Dishion, T. J., & Wilson, M. N. (2014). Inhibitory control as a mediator of bidirectional effects between early oppositional behavior and maternal depression. Development and Psychopathology , 26 (4pt1), 1129–1147.

Cicchetti, D., & Tucker, D. (1994). Development and self-regulatory structures of the mind. Development and Psychopathology , 6 (04), 533–549.

Cole, P. M., Dennis, T. A., Smith-Simon, K. E., & Cohen, L. H. (2009). Preschoolers’ emotion regulation strategy understanding: Relations with emotion socialization and child self-regulation. Social Development , 18 (2), 324–352.

Colman, I., Wadsworth, M. E., Croudace, T. J., & Jones, P. B. (2007). Forty-year psychiatric outcomes following assessment for internalizing disorder in adolescence. American Journal of Psychiatry , 164 (1), 126–133.

Conklin, H. M., Luciana, M., Hooper, C. J., & Yarger, R. S. (2007). Working memory performance in typically developing children and adolescents: Behavioral evidence of protracted frontal lobe development. Developmental Neuropsychology , 31 (1), 103–128.

Davis, H. L., & Pratt, C. (1996). The development of children’s theory of mind: The working memory explanation. Australian Journal of Psychology , 47 , 25–31.

De Pauw, S. S., & Mervielde, I. (2010). Temperament, personality and developmental psychopathology: A review based on the conceptual dimensions underlying childhood traits. Child Psychiatry & Human Development , 41 (3), 313–329.

Deák, G. O. (2000). The growth of flexible problem solving: Preschool children use changing verbal cues to infer multiple word meanings. Journal of Cognition and Development , 1 (2), 157–191.

Deák, G. O. (2003). The development of cognitive flexibility and language abilities. Advances in Child Development and Behavior , 31 , 273–328.

Deák, G. O., & Narasimham, G. (2014). Young children’s flexible use of semantic cues to word meanings: Converging evidence of individual and age differences. Journal of Child Language , 41 , 511–542.

Deák, G. O., & Wiseheart, M. (2015). Cognitive flexibility in young children: General or task-specific capacity? Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 138 , 31–53.

Dennis, T. A., Brotman, L. M., Huang, K. Y., & Gouley, K. K. (2007). Effortful control, social competence, and adjustment problems in children at risk for psychopathology. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology , 36 (3), 442–454.

Diamond, A. (2012). Activities and programs that improve children’s executive functions. Current Directions in Psychological Science , 21 (5), 335–341.

Diamond, A., Barnett, W. S., Thomas, J., & Munro, S. (2007). Preschool program improves cognitive control. Science , 318 , 1387.

Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science , 333 (6045), 959–964.

Diener, M. L., & Kim, D. Y. (2004). Maternal and child predictors of preschool children's social competence. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology , 25 (1), 3–24.

Domitrovich, C. E., Cortes, R. C., & Greenberg, M. T. (2007). Improving young children’s social and emotional competence: A randomized trial of the preschool “PATHS” curriculum. The Journal of Primary Prevention , 28 (2), 67–91.

Dyson, R., Robertson, G. C., & Wong, M. M. (2015). Brief report: Peer group influences and adolescent internalizing problems as mediated by effortful control. Journal of Adolescence , 41 , 131–135.

Eisenberg, N., Cumberland, A., & Spinrad, T. L. (1998). Parental socialization of emotion. Psychological Inquiry , 9 (4), 241–273.

Eisenberg, N., Duckworth, A. L., Spinrad, T. L., & Valiente, C. (2014). Conscientiousness: Origins in childhood? Developmental Psychology , 50 (5), 1331.

Eisenberg, N., Fabes, R. A., Shepard, S. A., Murphy, B. C., Guthrie, I. K., Jones, S., … Maszk, P. (1997). Contemporaneous and longitudinal prediction of children’s social functioning from regulation and emotionality. Child Development , 68 (4), 642–664.

Eisenberg, N., Hofer, C., Sulik, M. J., & Spinrad, T. L. (2014). Self-regulation, effortful control, and their socioemotional correlates. Handbook of Emotion Regulation , 2 , 157–172.

Eisenberg, N., & Morris, A. S. (2002). Children's emotion-related regulation. Advances in Child Development and Behavior , 30 , 190–230.

Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Eggum, N. D. (2010). Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children’s maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology , 6 , 495.

Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Eggum, N. D., Silva, K. M., Reiser, M., Hofer, C., & Michalik, N. (2010). Relations among maternal socialization, effortful control, and maladjustment in early childhood. Development and Psychopathology , 22 (03), 507–525.

Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Fabes, R. A., Reiser, M., Cumberland, A., Shepard, S. A., … Thompson, M. (2004). The relations of effortful control and impulsivity to children’s resiliency and adjustment. Child Development , 75 (1), 25–46.

Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., & Morris, A. S. (2002). Regulation, resiliency, and quality of social functioning. Self and Identity , 1 (2), 121–128.

Eisenberg, N., Taylor, Z. E., Widaman, K. F., & Spinrad, T. L. (2015). Externalizing symptoms, effortful control, and intrusive parenting: A test of bidirectional longitudinal relations during early childhood. Development and Psychopathology , 27 (4pt1), 953–968.

Eisenberg, N., Wentzel, M., & Harris, J. D. (1998). The role of emotionality and regulation in empathy-related responding. School Psychology Review , 27 (4), 506.

Eisenberg, N., Zhou, Q., Spinrad, T. L., Valiente, C., Fabes, R. A., & Liew, J. (2005). Relations among positive parenting, children’s effortful control, and externalizing problems: A three-wave longitudinal study. Child Development , 76 (5), 1055–1071.

Ellis, L. K., & Rothbart, M. K. (2001, April). Revision of the early adolescent temperament questionnaire. In Poster presented at the 2001 Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis , Minnesota.

Euler, F., Sterzer, P., & Stadler, C. (2014). Cognitive control under distressing emotional stimulation in adolescents with conduct disorder. Aggressive Behavior , 40 (2), 109–119.

Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitive–developmental inquiry. American Psychologist , 34 (10), 906.

Florez, I. R. (2011). Developing young children’s self-regulation through everyday experiences. YC Young Children , 66 (4), 46.

Foley, M., McClowry, S. G., & Castellanos, F. X. (2008). The relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and child temperament. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology , 29 (2), 157–169.

Gagne, J. R., & Hill Goldsmith, H. (2011). A longitudinal analysis of anger and inhibitory control in twins from 12 to 36 months of age. Developmental Science , 14 (1), 112–124.

Gartstein, M. A., Bridgett, D. J., Young, B. N., Panksepp, J., & Power, T. (2013). Origins of effortful control: Infant and parent contributions. Infancy , 18 (2), 149–183.

Gathercole, S. E., Brown, L., & Pickering, S. J. (2003). Working memory assessments at school entry as longitudinal predictors of National Curriculum attainment levels. Educational and Child Psychology , 20 (3), 109–122.

Gathercole, S. E., Pickering, S. J., Ambridge, B., & Wearing, H. (2004). The structure of working memory from 4 to 15 years of age. Developmental Psychology , 40 (2), 177.

Gerstadt, C. L., Hong, Y. J., & Diamond, A. (1994). The relationship between cognition and action: Performance of children 312–7 years old on a stroop-like day-night test. Cognition , 53 (2), 129–153.

Ghassabian, A., Székely, E., Herba, C. M., Jaddoe, V. W., Hofman, A., Oldehinkel, A. J., & Tiemeier, H. (2014). From positive emotionality to internalizing problems: The role of executive functioning in preschoolers. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , 23 (9), 729–741.

Gordon, A. C., & Olson, D. R. (1998). The relation between acquisition of a theory of mind and the capacity to hold in mind. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 68 (1), 70–83.

Granvald, V., & Marciszko, C. (2016). Relations between key executive functions and aggression in childhood. Child Neuropsychology , 22 (5), 537–555.

Graziano, P. A., Reid, A., Slavec, J., Paneto, A., McNamara, J. P., & Geffken, G. R. (2015). ADHD symptomatology and risky health, driving, and financial behaviors in college: The mediating role of sensation seeking and effortful control. Journal of Attention Disorders , 19 (3), 179.

Greenberg, M. T., Kusche, C. A., Cook, E. T., & Quamma, J. P. (1995). Promoting emotional competence in school-aged children: The effects of the PATHS curriculum. Development and Psychopathology , 7 (01), 117–136.

Gross, J. J. (1998). The Emerging Field of Emotion Regulation: An Integrative Review. Review of General Psychology, 2 , 271–299.

Gross, J. J., & Thompson, R. A. (2007). Emotion regulation: Conceptual foundations. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 3–24). New York: Guilford Press.

Gulley, L. D., Hankin, B. L., & Young, J. F. (2016). Risk for depression and anxiety in youth: The interaction between negative affectivity, effortful control, and stressors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 44 (2), 207–218.

Heckhausen, J., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Motivation and self-regulation across the life span . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Book   Google Scholar  

Henry, L. A., & Norman, T. (1996). The relationships between memory performance, use of simple memory strategies and metamemory in young children. International Journal of Behavioral Development , 19 (1), 177–199.

Hilt, L. M., Armstrong, J. M., & Essex, M. J. (2012). Early family context and development of adolescent ruminative style: Moderation by temperament. Cognition & Emotion , 26 (5), 916–926.

Hofer, C., Eisenberg, N., & Reiser, M. (2010). The role of socialization, effortful control, and ego resiliency in French adolescents’ social functioning. Journal of Research on Adolescence , 20 (3), 555–582.

Holmes, J., Gathercole, S. E., & Dunning, D. L. (2009). Adaptive training leads to sustained enhancement of poor working memory in children. Developmental Science , 12 (4), F9–F15.

Holmes, J., Gathercole, S. E., Place, M., Dunning, D. L., Hilton, K. A., & Elliott, J. G. (2010). Working memory deficits can be overcome: Impacts of training and medication on working memory in children with ADHD. Applied Cognitive Psychology , 24 (6), 827–836.

Hopkins, J., Lavigne, J. V., Gouze, K. R., LeBailly, S. A., & Bryant, F. B. (2013). Multi-domain models of risk factors for depression and anxiety symptoms in preschoolers: Evidence for common and specific factors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 41 (5), 705–722.

Hughes, C. (1998). Executive function in preschoolers: Links with theory of mind and verbal ability. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 16 (2), 233–253.

Huttenlocher, P. R., & Dabholkar, A. S. (1997). Regional differences in synaptogenesis in human cerebral cortex. Journal of comparative Neurology , 387 (2), 167–178.

Justice, E. M. (1985). Categorization as a preferred memory strategy: Developmental changes during elementary school. Developmental Psychology , 21 (6), 1105.

Karbach, J., & Kray, J. (2009). How useful is executive control training? Age differences in near and far transfer of task-switching training. Developmental Science , 12 (6), 978–990.

Klingberg, T., Fernell, E., Olesen, P. J., Johnson, M., Gustafsson, P., Dahlström, K., … Westerberg, H. (2005). Computerized training of working memory in children with ADHD-a randomized, controlled trial. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry , 44 (2), 177–186.

Kochanska, G., Coy, K. C., & Murray, K. T. (2001). The development of self-regulation in the first four years of life. Child Development , 72 (4), 1091–1111.

Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology , 36 (2), 220.

Kochanska, G., Murray, K., Jacques, T. Y., Koenig, A. L., & Vandegeest, K. A. (1996). Inhibitory control in young children and its role in emerging internalization. Child Development , 67 , 490–507.

Kopp, C. B. (1982). Antecedents of self-regulation: A developmental perspective. Developmental Psychology , 18 (2), 199–214.

Lakes, K. D., & Hoyt, W. T. (2004). Promoting self-regulation through school-based martial arts training. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology , 25 (3), 283–302.

Lemery, K. S., Essex, M. J., & Smider, N. A. (2002). Revealing the relation between temperament and behavior problem symptoms by eliminating measurement confounding: Expert ratings and factor analyses. Child Development , 73 (3), 867–882.

Lengua, L. J., West, S. G., & Sandler, I. N. (1998). Temperament as a predictor of symptomatology in children: Addressing contamination of measures. Child Development , 69 (1), 164–181.

Liew, J. (2012). Effortful control, executive functions, and education: Bringing self-regulatory and social-emotional competencies to the table. Child Development Perspectives , 6 (2), 105–111.

Liew, J., McTigue, E. M., Barrois, L., & Hughes, J. N. (2008). Adaptive and effortful control and academic self-efficacy beliefs on achievement: A longitudinal study of 1st through 3rd graders. Early Childhood Research Quarterly , 23 (4), 515–526.

Liu, Q., Zhu, X., Ziegler, A., & Shi, J. (2015). The effects of inhibitory control training for preschoolers on reasoning ability and neural activity. Scientific Reports , 5 , 14200.

Logan, G. D. (1994). On the ability to inhibit thought and action: A users’ guide to the stop signal paradigm. In D. Dagenbach & T. H. Carr (Eds.), Inhibitory processes in attention, memory, and language (pp. 189–239). San Diego: Academic Press.

Luciana, M., Conklin, H. M., Hooper, C. J., & Yarger, R. S. (2005). The development of nonverbal working memory and executive control processes in adolescents. Child Development , 76 (3), 697–712.

Luengo Kanacri, B. P., Pastorelli, C., Eisenberg, N., Zuffianò, A., & Caprara, G. V. (2013). The development of prosociality from adolescence to early adulthood: The role of effortful control. Journal of Personality , 81 (3), 302–312.

Martel, M. M. (2009). Research review: A new perspective on attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: Emotion dysregulation and trait models. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 50 (9), 1042–1051.

Martel, M. M. (2016). Dispositional trait types of ADHD in young children. Journal of Attention Disorders , 20 (1), 43–52.

Martel, M. M., Gremillion, M. L., & Roberts, B. (2012). Temperament and common disruptive behavior problems in preschool. Personality and Individual Differences , 53 (7), 874–879.

Martel, M. M., & Nigg, J. T. (2006). Child ADHD and personality/temperament traits of reactive and effortful control, resiliency, and emotionality. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 47 (11), 1175–1183.

Martel, M. M., Nigg, J. T., & Von Eye, A. (2009). How do trait dimensions map onto ADHD symptom domains? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 37 (3), 337–348.

McClelland, M. M., & Cameron, C. E. (2012). Self-regulation in early childhood: Improving conceptual clarity and developing ecologically valid measures. Child Development Perspectives , 6 (2), 136–142.

McClelland, M. M., Cameron, C. E., Connor, C. M., Farris, C. L., Jewkes, A. M., & Morrison, F. J. (2007). Links between behavioral regulation and preschoolers’ literacy, vocabulary, and math skills. Developmental Psychology , 43 (4), 947.

McRae, K., Gross, J. J., Weber, J., Robertson, E. R., Sokol-Hessner, P., Ray, R. D., … Ochsner, K. N. (2012). The development of emotion regulation: An fMRI study of cognitive reappraisal in children, adolescents and young adults. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience , 7 (1), 11–22.

Mercer, J. (2011). Martial arts research: Weak evidence. Science , 334 (6054), 310–311.

Miller, J., Schäffer, R., & Hackley, S. A. (1991). Effects of preliminary information in a go versus no-go task. Acta Psychologica , 76 (3), 241–292.

Mischel, W., Ebbesen, E. B., & Raskoff Zeiss, A. (1972). Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 21 (2), 204.

Mischel, W., Shoda, Y., & Rodriguez, M. L. (1989). Delay of gratification in children. Science , 244 (4907), 933–938.

Miyake, A., Friedman, N. P., Emerson, M. J., Witzki, A. H., Howerter, A., & Wager, T. D. (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex “frontal lobe” tasks: A latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology , 41 (1), 49–100.

Monette, S., Bigras, M., & Guay, M. C. (2015). Executive functions in kindergarteners with high levels of disruptive behaviours. British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 33 (4), 446–463.

Moran, L. R., Lengua, L. J., & Zalewski, M. (2013). The interaction between negative emotionality and effortful control in early social-emotional development. Social Development , 22 (2), 340–362.

Muhtadie, L., Zhou, Q., Eisenberg, N., & Wang, Y. (2013). Predicting internalizing problems in Chinese children: The unique and interactive effects of parenting and child temperament. Development and Psychopathology , 25 (03), 653–667.

Muris, P. (2006). Unique and interactive effects of neuroticism and effortful control on psychopathological symptoms in non-clinical adolescents. Personality and Individual Differences , 40 (7), 1409–1419.

Muris, P., Meesters, C., & Blijlevens, P. (2007). Self-reported reactive and regulative temperament in early adolescence: Relations to internalizing and externalizing problem behavior and “big three” personality factors. Journal of Adolescence , 30 (6), 1035–1049.

Murray, K. T., & Kochanska, G. (2002). Effortful control: Factor structure and relation to externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 30 (5), 503–514.

Neuhaus, E., & Beauchaine, T. P. (2013). Impulsivity and vulnerability to psychopathology. In T. P. Beauchaine & S. P. Hinshaw (Eds.), Child and adolescent psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 197–226). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Nigg, J. T. (2000). On inhibition/disinhibition in developmental psychopathology: Views from cognitive and personality psychology and a working inhibition taxonomy. Psychological Bulletin , 126 (2), 220.

Nigg, J. T., & Casey, B. J. (2005). An integrative theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder based on the cognitive and affective neurosciences. Development and Psychopathology , 17 (03), 785–806.

Nigg, J. T., Goldsmith, H. H., & Sachek, J. (2004). Temperament and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: The development of a multiple pathway model. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology , 33 (1), 42–53.

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Wisco, B. E., & Lyubomirsky, S. (2008). Rethinking rumination. Perspectives on Psychological Science , 3 (5), 400–424.

Oldehinkel, A. J., Hartman, C. A., Ferdinand, R. F., Verhulst, F. C., & Ormel, J. (2007). Effortful control as modifier of the association between negative emotionality and adolescents’ mental health problems. Development and Psychopathology , 19 (02), 523–539.

Olson, S. L., Sameroff, A. J., Kerr, D. C., Lopez, N. L., & Wellman, H. M. (2005). Developmental foundations of externalizing problems in young children: The role of effortful control. Development and Psychopathology , 17 (01), 25–45.

Panfile, T. M., & Laible, D. J. (2012). Attachment security and child’s empathy: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , 58 (1), 1–21.

Papageorgiou, K. A., Smith, T. J., Wu, R., Johnson, M. H., Kirkham, N. Z., & Ronald, A. (2014). Individual differences in infant fixation duration relate to attention and behavioral control in childhood. Psychological Science , 25 , 1371–1379.

Pennington, B. F., & Ozonoff, S. (1996). Executive functions and developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 37 (1), 51–87.

Pickering, S., & Gathercole, S. E. (2001). Working memory test battery for children (WMTB-C) . London: Psychological Corporation.

Pintrich, P. (2000). The role of goal orientation in self-regulated learning. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 451–502). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (1998). Attention, self–regulation and consciousness. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences , 353 (1377), 1915–1927.

Posner, M. I., & Rothbart, M. K. (2000). Developing mechanisms of self-regulation. Development and Psychopathology , 12 (3), 427–441.

Putnam, S. P., Gartstein, M. A., & Rothbart, M. K. (2006). Measurement of fine-grained aspects of toddler temperament: The early childhood behavior questionnaire. Infant Behavior and Development , 29 (3), 386–401.

Putnam, S. P., & Rothbart, M. K. (2006). Development of short and very short forms of the Children’s behavior questionnaire. Journal of Personality Assessment , 87 (1), 102–112.

Raffaelli, M., Crockett, L. J., & Shen, Y. L. (2005). Developmental stability and change in self-regulation from childhood to adolescence. The Journal of Genetic Psychology , 166 (1), 54–76.

Razza, R. A., Bergen-Cico, D., & Raymond, K. (2015). Enhancing preschoolers’ self-regulation via mindful yoga. Journal of Child and Family Studies , 24 (2), 372–385.

Reed, M. A., Pien, D. L., & Rothbart, M. K. (1984). Inhibitory self-control in preschool children. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , 30 (2), 131–147.

Riggs, N. R., Greenberg, M. T., Kusché, C. A., & Pentz, M. A. (2006). The mediational role of neurocognition in the behavioral outcomes of a social-emotional prevention program in elementary school students: Effects of the PATHS curriculum. Prevention Science , 7 (1), 91–102.

Roberts, B. W., Jackson, J. J., Fayard, J. V., Edmonds, G., & Meints, J. (2009). Conscientiousness. In M. R. Leary & R. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences in social behavior (pp. 369–381). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Romine, C. B., & Reynolds, C. R. (2005). A model of the development of frontal lobe functioning: Findings from a meta-analysis. Applied Neuropsychology , 12 (4), 190–201.

Rothbart, M. K. (1981). Measurement of temperament in infancy. Child Development , 52 , 569–578.

Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., & Hershey, K. L. (1994). Temperament and social behavior in childhood. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly , 40 , 21–39.

Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., Hershey, K. L., & Fisher, P. (2001). Investigations of temperament at three to seven years: The Children’s behavior questionnaire. Child Development , 72 (5), 1394–1408.

Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Temperament. In W. Damon, R. Lerner, & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 99–166). New York: Wiley.

Rothbart, M. K., & Rueda, M. R. (2005). The development of effortful control. In U. Mayr, E. Awh, & S. Keele (Eds.), Developing individuality in the human brain: A tribute to Michael I. Posner (pp. 167–188). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Rothbart, M. K., Sheese, B. E., Rueda, M. R., & Posner, M. I. (2011). Developing mechanisms of self-regulation in early life. Emotion Review , 3 (2), 207–213.

Rothbart, M. K., Ziaie, H., & O’boyle, C. G. (1992). Self-regulation and emotion in infancy. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development , 1992 (55), 7–23.

Rueda, M. R., Rothbart, M. K., McCandliss, B. D., Saccomanno, L., & Posner, M. I. (2005). Training, maturation, and genetic influences on the development of executive attention. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America , 102 (41), 14931–14936.

Ruff, H. A., & Rothbart, M. K. (1996). Attention in early development: Themes and variations . New York: Oxford University Press.

Saarni, C. (1984). An observational study of children's attempts to monitor their expressive behavior. Child Development , 55 , 1504–1513.

Schoemaker, K., Mulder, H., Deković, M., & Matthys, W. (2013). Executive functions in preschool children with externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 41 (3), 457–471.

Shiner, R., & Caspi, A. (2003). Personality differences in childhood and adolescence: Measurement, development, and consequences. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 44 (1), 2–32.

Shipstead, Z., Hicks, K. L., & Engle, R. W. (2012). Cogmed working memory training: Does the evidence support the claims? Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition , 1 (3), 185–193.

Shipstead, Z., Redick, T. S., & Engle, R. W. (2012). Is working memory training effective? Psychological Bulletin , 138 (4), 628.

Shonkoff, J. P., & Phillips, D. A. (2000). Committee on integrating the science of early childhood development, board on children, youth, and families. From neurons to neighborhoods: The science of early childhood programs . Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Sibley, B. A., & Etnier, J. L. (2003). The relationship between physical activity and cognition in children: A meta-analysis. Pediatric Exercise Science , 15 (3), 243–256.

Simonds, J., & Rothbart, M. K. (2004). The Temperament in Middle Childhood Questionnaire (TMCQ): A computerized self-report instrument for ages 7–10. Poster Session Presented at the Occasional Temperament Conference. Athens, GA.

Spinrad, T. L., Eisenberg, N., Gaertner, B., Popp, T., Smith, C. L., Kupfer, A., … Hofer, C. (2007). Relations of maternal socialization and toddlers’ effortful control to children’s adjustment and social competence. Developmental Psychology , 43 (5), 1170.

Sportel, B. E., Nauta, M. H., de Hullu, E., & de Jong, P. J. (2013). Predicting internalizing symptoms over a two year period by BIS, FFFS and attentional control. Personality and Individual Differences , 54 (2), 236–240.

Sportel, B. E., Nauta, M. H., de Hullu, E., de Jong, P. J., & Hartman, C. A. (2011). Behavioral inhibition and attentional control in adolescents: Robust relationships with anxiety and depression. Journal of Child and Family Studies , 20 (2), 149–156.

Sroufe, L. A. (1995). Emotional development: The organization of emotional life in the early years . New York: Cambridge University Press.

Strayhorn, J. M., & Strayhorn, J. C. (2011). Martial arts research: Prudent skepticism. Science , 334 (6054), 310–310.

Strommen, E. A. (1973). Verbal self-regulation in a Children’s game: Impulsive errors on “Simon says”. Child Development , 44 , 849–853.

Sulik, M. J., Blair, C., Mills-Koonce, R., Berry, D., & Greenberg, M. (2015). Early parenting and the development of externalizing behavior problems: Longitudinal mediation through children’s executive function. Child Development , 86 (5), 1588–1603.

Suurland, J., Heijden, K. B., Huijbregts, S. C., Smaling, H. J., Sonneville, L. M., Van Goozen, S. H., & Swaab, H. (2016). Parental perceptions of aggressive behavior in preschoolers: Inhibitory control moderates the association with negative emotionality. Child Development , 87 (1), 256–269.

Thompson-Schill, S. L., Ramscar, M., & Chrysikou, E. G. (2009). Cognition without control when a little frontal lobe goes a long way. Current Directions in Psychological Science , 18 (5), 259–263.

Thorell, L. B., Lindqvist, S., Bergman Nutley, S., Bohlin, G., & Klingberg, T. (2009). Training and transfer effects of executive functions in preschool children. Developmental Science , 12 (1), 106–113.

Tomporowski, P. D., Davis, C. L., Miller, P. H., & Naglieri, J. A. (2008). Exercise and children’s intelligence, cognition, and academic achievement. Educational Psychology Review , 20 (2), 111–131.

Ullsperger, J. M., Nigg, J. T., & Nikolas, M. A. (2016). Does child temperament play a role in the association between parenting practices and child attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 44 (1), 167–178.

Ursache, A., Blair, C., & Raver, C. C. (2012). The promotion of self-regulation as a means of enhancing school readiness and early achievement in children at risk for school failure. Child Development Perspectives , 6 (2), 122–128.

Valiente, C., Eisenberg, N., Spinrad, T. L., Haugen, R. G., Thompson, M. S., & Kupfer, A. (2013). Effortful control and impulsivity as concurrent and longitudinal predictors of academic achievement. The Journal of Early Adolescence , 33 (7), 946–972.

Valiente, C., Lemery-Chalfant, K., Swanson, J., & Reiser, M. (2008). Prediction of children's academic competence from their effortful control, relationships, and classroom participation. Journal of Educational Psychology , 100 (1), 67.

Verlinden, M., Veenstra, R., Ghassabian, A., Jansen, P. W., Hofman, A., Jaddoe, V. W., … Tiemeier, H. (2014). Executive functioning and non-verbal intelligence as predictors of bullying in early elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology , 42 (6), 953–966.

Vervoort, L., Wolters, L. H., Hogendoorn, S. M., Prins, P. J., De Haan, E., Boer, F., & Hartman, C. A. (2011). Temperament, attentional processes, and anxiety: Diverging links between adolescents with and without anxiety disorders? Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology , 40 (1), 144–155.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Interaction between learning and development. Readings on the Development of Children , 23 (3), 34–41.

Waters, G. S., & Caplan, D. (2003). The reliability and stability of verbal working memory measures. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers , 35 (4), 550–564.

Weinberg, M. K., Tronick, E. Z., Cohn, J. F., & Olson, K. L. (1999). Gender differences in emotional expressivity and self-regulation during early infancy. Developmental Psychology , 35 (1), 175.

Wender, P. (1995). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults . New York: Oxford University Press.

Whitebread, D., & Basilio, M. (2012). The emergence and early development of self-regulation in young children. Profesorado: Journal of Curriculum and Teacher Education, Monograph Issue: Learn to Learn. Teaching and Evaluation of Self-Regulated Learning , 16 (1), 15–34.

Willcutt, E. G., Doyle, A. E., Nigg, J. T., Faraone, S. V., & Pennington, B. F. (2005). Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A meta-analytic review. Biological Psychiatry , 57 (11), 1336–1346.

Williams, B. R., Ponesse, J. S., Schachar, R. J., Logan, G. D., & Tannock, R. (1999). Development of inhibitory control across the life span. Developmental Psychology , 35 (1), 205.

Winne, P. H., & Hadwin, A. F. (1998). Studying as self-regulated learning. Metacognition in Educational Theory and Practice , 93 , 27–30.

Woltering, S., Lishak, V., Hodgson, N., Granic, I., & Zelazo, P. D. (2016). Executive function in children with externalizing and comorbid internalizing behavior problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry , 57 (1), 30–38.

Xu, Y., Farver, J. A. M., & Zhang, Z. (2009). Temperament, harsh and indulgent parenting, and Chinese children’s proactive and reactive aggression. Child Development , 80 (1), 244–258.

Xu, F., Han, Y., Sabbagh, M. A., Wang, T., Ren, X., & Li, C. (2013). Developmental differences in the structure of executive function in middle childhood and adolescence. PloS One , 8 (10), e77770.

Yap, M. B., Allen, N. B., & Sheeber, L. (2007). Using an emotion regulation framework to understand the role of temperament and family processes in risk for adolescent depressive disorders. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review , 10 (2), 180–196.

Zelazo, P. D. (2006). The dimensional change card sort (DCCS): A method of assessing executive function in children. Nature Protocols , 1 (1), 297.

Zhou, Q., Chen, S. H., & Main, A. (2012). Commonalities and differences in the research on children’s effortful control and executive function: A call for an integrated model of self-regulation. Child Development Perspectives , 6 (2), 112–121.

Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrich, & M. Zeidner (Eds.), Handbook of self-regulation (pp. 13–39). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Faculty of Education, Department of Counseling and Human Development, Multidisciplinary Program for Early Childhood Education and Development, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel

Yair Ziv Ph.D., Moti Benita Ph.D. & Inbar Sofri

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yair Ziv Ph.D. .

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Johnny L. Matson

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Ziv, Y., Benita, M., Sofri, I. (2017). Self-Regulation in Childhood: A Developmental Perspective. In: Matson, J. (eds) Handbook of Social Behavior and Skills in Children . Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64592-6_10

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64592-6_10

Published : 17 October 2017

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-319-64591-9

Online ISBN : 978-3-319-64592-6

eBook Packages : Behavioral Science and Psychology Behavioral Science and Psychology (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• The LD@school Team
• Collaborate with Us
• Terms Of Use
• Mathematics
• Mental Health
• Executive Functions
• Social-Emotional Development
• What are Non-verbal Learning Disabilities?
• Accommodations, Modifications & Alternative Skill Areas
• Glossary of Terms
• Resources |
• Learning Modules |
• Educators’ Institute |
• Document Library |

An Introduction to Self-Regulation

An introduction to self - regulation.

Print Resource

by Michael Fairbrother and  Dr. Jessica Whitley

What is Self - regulation ?

Self -regulated learning is a process that assists students in  managing their thoughts, behaviours, and emotions  in order to successfully navigate their learning experiences (Zumbrunn, Tadlock, & Roberts, 2011). According to Canadian researcher, Shanker (2012), “ self - regulation refers to a child’s ability to  deal with stressors  effectively and efficiently and then return to a baseline of being calmly focused and alert” (p. 5).

According to many researchers (for e.g., Alexander, Entwistle, & Kabbani, 2001, and O’Shaughnessy et al., 2003) self - regulation (SR) is “absolutely  critical for school readiness ” (Blair & Diamond, 2008, p. 906) and is often linked with meta-cognition. SR and meta-cognition are related but differing constructs. Whereas metacognition has to do with knowledge and awareness of one’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses, SR is the process that creates the conditions to guide this thinking: “the ability to regulate one’s cognitive activities, underlies the executive processes and functions associated with metacognition” (Montague, 2008, p. 37).

For those students entering school without strong SR skills,  early intervention and instruction   are   essential . These students as a group are more likely to become  increasingly resistant to school work , school in general and self -investment in school, resulting in a  greater likelihood of dropping out  (Blair & Diamond, 2008). Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta and Cox’s (2001) analysis of the National Center for Early Development and Learning’s  Transition Practices Survey  (1996) sampling kindergarten teachers across the United States found that 50% of their students were experiencing difficulties that limited their abilities to learn and that most difficulties dealt with SR: “particularly problems with following directions and controlling attention” (Blair & Diamond, 2008, p. 899).

Developing SR skills in students is not easy. It requires that teachers help students learn how to actively monitor their own thinking, to pause and check when needed, and to make their own decisions as they are engaged in their learning activities (Westwood, 2003). It is widely held view that many learning problems are a result of students’ lack of metacognitive skill/ability: “For self -regulated learning to develop teachers need to demonstrate convincingly how to use appropriate strategies, explain in ways that students can understand, and make frequent and consistent use of metacognition and strategy training in all parts of the school curriculum” (Westwood, p. 63).

General Features of Self - Regulation

There has been an explosion of research on SR over the last decade connected to various domains that affect students’ abilities to focus and achieve optimal learning in academic and social situations ( Shanker , 2013). Zimmerman (1990) described self -regulated students as “distinguished by their systematic use of metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral strategies; by their systematic use of metacognitive, motivational, and behavioral strategies; by their responsiveness to feedback, regarding the effectiveness of their learning; and by their self -perceptions of academic accomplishment” (p. 14).

Domains of Self - regulation

Shanker (2013) explored SR through five domains (biological, emotional, cognitive, social, and prosocial) which can be helpful in conceptualizing SR:

• The  biological domain  relates to the  level of energy  in the human nervous system;
• the  emotional domain  is related to  positive and negative feelings ;
• the  cognitive domain  consists of the  mental processes  required for taking in and being able to use information: memory, attention, acquisition and retention of information and problem solving;
• the  social domain  relates to the  child’s ability to use social cues  to act in an appropriate manner and is also known as social intelligence; and
• the  prosocial domain  represents  how individuals act with others in their environment   and ability to promote positive social connections, friendship and empathy.

The list of elements related to each domain represents what students would present with if they reached optimal levels of SR (see Table 1). When students are not at these levels, it can be challenging for educators to optimize students’ learning.

Click here to access this list.

How Self - regulation Affects Learning

Creating a Nurturing Classroom Environment ( Shanker , 2013) citing recent research, suggests that student  academic success can be predicted based on their ability to self -regulate  ( Shanker , 2013 citing Blair & Diamond, 2008; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005). Many students lacking SR skills tend to have learning challenges that persist through their school years, and Bodrovan and Leong (2005) remark that children unable to self -regulate at age four will likely have  difficulties following teacher directions  at age six.  It is a myth believed by many educators that these children are immature and will grow out of their impulsive behaviours;  not only will students not learn or develop SR skills on their own but they will have more opportunities to practice dysregulating behaviours (Bodrovan & Leong, 2005, Shanker , 2013)[1]. Other myths include attributing lack of SR skills to conditions such as ADHD, and believing that dysregulating behaviours cannot be changed.

It is suggested that even when teachers are covering the curriculum at an appropriate pace, one factor that may contribute to many students not being able to process it efficiently is their inability to effectively self -regulate: they may be not paying attention, are unable to follow instructions, and may have a hard time remembering what they just heard (Bodrovan & Leong, 2005). Often these are the same children that have trouble building relationships with classmates. These difficulties result in teachers “spending more time on classroom management than teaching” (p.55).

Tips for Educators

As a teacher, focusing first on the biological domain sets the stage for learning by helping students be better prepared ( Shanker , 2013) Addressing environmental variables that could cause students to be overly aroused adds an important calming element in the classroom. It is recommended that teachers reduce the stressors causing over arousal among students. The following table lists some suggestions for implementing classroom management strategies that may improve SR (see Table 2).

General Instructional Techniques

Instructional strategies for promoting development of academic skills across the curriculum can easily incorporate those focused on developing SR. The following list of instructional strategies were compiled from Mason (2013) and Montague (2007):

• Model use of SR strategies in context  of the subject you are teaching
• Have students  verbally rehearse SR strategies  before applying them
• Provide  self -recording cards, cue cards, or prompt sheets  to remind students of the instructions or questions they need to use as they complete the task
• Have students  self -regulate aloud  until they become comfortable with the routine and are successful in completing the task accurately
• Provide a  visual record of successes  (e.g., a graph to document improvement over time)
• Fade cues   and prompts as students become more competent in using SR

In general, if instruction focuses on teaching strategies such as self -instruction, self -questioning, self -evaluation, and self -reinforcement, SR instruction is being implemented. When it is done effectively, SR will “guide learners as they apply processes within and across domains, and regulate their application and overall performance of a task” (Montague, 2008, p. 37).

Sampling of Research Findings

A whole class approach.

Souvignier and Mokhlesgerami (2006) were interested in the connection between teaching and using SR skills alongside strategy instruction for developing reading comprehension. Participants were 20 fifth-grade classes with 593 students in total (297 girls and 296 boys with a mean age of 11 years). Students were divided into three treatment groups and one control group:

• (Strat) received instruction in using cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies with lessons for practicing the strategies;
• (Strat + CSR) cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies along with aspects of cognitive (CSR) aspects of self - regulation instruction for regulating their reading process;
•  (MSR + Strat + CSR) cognitive and  metacognitive reading strategies, CSR, and motivational (MSR) aspects for  self -regulating their reading process; and
• general language arts reading instruction.

All groups received twenty, forty-five-minute sessions. Results show that short-term gains in reading comprehension were largest for the second group (Strat + CSR) over the other three groups. However, on a year-end standardized reading comprehension test, the third experimental group (MSR + Strat + CSR) was the only group to outperform the control group, suggesting that a complete program  incorporating cognitive and motivational aspects to self -regulated reading instruction lead to longer term gains in reading comprehension .

Teaching SR Skills for Students with Learning Disabilities and Difficulties to Learn Math Strategically

Research demonstrates that secondary students with, or at-risk for, LDs in math struggle with using developed problem-solving strategies, are unclear on the purpose of math as a field of study, and see math as a topic “requiring memorization and rote learning or application of algorithms” (Butler, Beckingham, & Novak Lauscher, 2005, p. 159). Butler et al. hypothesized that students that are taught strategies to learn more independently in the learning assistance classroom would be more likely to transfer these skills to general classroom instruction. Butler et al.’s case study research with three grade 8 students in an urban Canadian city indicated that students with LDs and learning difficulties can  improve efficacy and abilities in math when taught to use SR strategies for approaching their math work . The three students were all close to 13 years old, were female, were of average intelligence but performing well below grade level in mathematics and were enrolled in a learning assistance classroom.

The students were taught math using Strategic Content Learning (SCL) to help develop SR skills for promoting independent strategic learning. SCL has shown to support self -regulated learning for post-secondary students and previous research has shown “positive gains associated with SCL intervention … across studies in students’ task performance, metacognitive knowledge about tasks and strategies, and self -perceptions of competence” (Butler et al., 2005, p. 159).

There are four principles of SCL that, when taken together, “suggest that mathematics instruction for students with LDs should promote students’ self -directed learning and  problem solving in pursuit of important curricular goals” (p. 160). The principles are as follows[2]:

• Support for self -regulated learning should be  integrated into instruction , not taught separately
• Teachers should recognize that  students are active interpreters  whose interpretation of information mediates what they learn
• Learning in math should result from  guided (re)construction
• Academic work should be framed as an opportunity for  collaborative problem-solving  in pursuit of a clearly defined goal

Findings demonstrated that the three students, one with LDs and two with math difficulties, were able to integrate self -regulated learning into mathematics instruction due to guided and explicit SR and strategy instruction. Students developed strategies for interpreting math problems,  and developed cognitive and strategies for solving math problems and for learning from materials. They were also able to improve their organizational skills.

Self - regulation and Mathematics Problem Solving for Students with Learning Disabilities

In a study conducted by Jitendra, Hoff and Beck (1999), four students with mathematics learning disabilities (2 boys, 2 girls in grade 6 and 7 working at an early third-grade level) were able to develop their problem-solving skills using an SR technique. The students were introduced to schema strategy instruction for one-step then two-step word problems and compared to a control group working at a similar grade level in math. Instruction took place in a resource room. Students in the treatment group received  explicit instruction in rules ,  schema strategy modelling ,  guide practice ,  monitoring ,  corrective feedback   and   independent practice . For schema strategy training students were taught to distinguish the unique features of each problem type: schemata diagrams were provided for mapping features of story situation, instruction was explicit and modelled correct story mapping with guided practice for applying each strategy step along with frequent opportunities to exchange understanding with peers.

Once instruction for one-step word problems were understood, a second phase of training began for two-step word problems. Dependent measures were word problems tests (six one-step and four two-step problems requiring addition and subtraction operations with three different problem types). Students were also asked to rate students’ perceptions of strategy effectiveness, acceptability, and satisfaction in word solving problems and student’s ability to use schematic strategies was assessed by examining the use of diagram mapping and application of taught rules on students’ work sheets.

In comparison to the control group, the four students receiving strategy instruction out-performed them on one-step questions and were comparable on two-step questions. It was found that the 4 students in the treatment group answered more one- and two-step questions on post-tests compared to their baseline tests and applications of incorrect operations decreased. Following instruction on one-step word problems, the performance of the students increased by a mean of 43%. When inquiring into student strategy use, the authors remarked that at pre-instruction the students did not use any strategies but following strategy instruction all four students consistently used diagramming to map information,  and that more diagramming was attempted for more complex questions. Finally, students stated that learning the strategies was a positive experience and agreed that they would recommend using these strategies to their peers.

Challenges to Classroom Implementation, Research-to-Practice Issues

• For students with LDs and other diagnoses, SR skills may be  difficult to generalize to other situations  (beyond the context where initially learned)
• Much of the research on SR described instruction occurring outside the general education classroom within a resource room in smaller groups
• SR requires teacher skills in strategy instruction, implying professional development and ongoing support from a specialist to ensure implementation of strategy instruction with fidelity
• The  time to effectively implement in a classroom is substantial   and there are competing pressures to fulfil curriculum

Relevant Resources on the LD@school Website

Click here to access the article Cognitive Conditions and Self -Regulated Learning .

Click here to access the article  Combining Writing and Self - Regulation Strategies: The SRSD Approach .

Where to learn more (recommended sites to peruse and important articles to read):

• The Alert Program is a commercial site but does offer links to a number of areas discussing SR and working with students with specialized needs.  Click here to access the website.
• Shanker , S. (2010). Self - regulation : Calm, alert, and learning.  Education Canada, 50 (3), 4-7. This is a great introductory article that describes self - regulation and provides classroom-based examples of self - regulation in action.
• Tools of the Mind  is a research-based program combining transformational early childhood pedagogy with an innovative curriculum that helps young children to develop the cognitive, social-emotional, self -regulatory, and foundational academic skills they need to succeed in school and beyond.  Click here to access the website.
• MindUP™ is a research-based training program for educators and children. This program is composed of 15 lessons based in neuroscience. Students learn to self -regulate behaviour and mindfully engage in focused concentration required for academic success.  Click here to access the program.

Alexander, K., Entwisle, D., & Kabbani, N. (2001). The dropout process in life course perspective: Early risk factors at home and school.  Teacher College Record Volume, 103 (5), 760-822.

Blair, C., & Diamond, A. (2008). Biological processes in prevention and intervention: The promotion of self - regulation as a means of preventing school failure.  Development and Psychopathology ,  20 , 899-911.

Bodrova, E., & Leong, D. (2005). Promoting student self - regulation in learning.  Education Digest, 71 (2), 54-57

Boekarts, M., & Cascallar, E. (2006). How far have we moved toward the integration of theory and practice in self - regulation ?  Educational Psychology Review ,  18 , 199-210.

Butler, D., Beckingham, B., & Novak Laushcher, H. (2005). Promoting strategic learning by eighth-grade students struggling in mathematics: A report of three case studies.  Learning Disabilities Practice, 20 (3), 156-174.

Duckworth, A.L., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2005). Self -discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents.  Psychological Science, 16 (2), 939-944.

Jitendra, A., Hoff, K., & Beck, M. (1999). Teaching middle school students with learning disabilities to solve word problems using a schema-based approach.  Remedial and Special Education, 20 (1), 50-64.

Mason, L. (2013). Teaching students who struggle with learning to think before, while, and after reading: Effects of self -regulated strategy development instruction.  Reading and Writing Quarterly, 29,  124-144.

Montague, M. (2008). Self - regulation strategies to improve mathematical problem solving for students with learning disabilities.  Learning Disability Quarterly, 31,  37-44.

National Center for Early Development and Learning (1996).  Transitions practices survey.  Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina.

O’Shaungnessy, T., Lane, K., Gresham, F., & Beebe-Frankenberger, M. (2003). Children placed at risk for learning and  behavioral difficulties: Implementing a school-wide system of early identification and intervention.  Remedial and Special Education, 24 (1), 27-35.

Rimm-Kaufman, Pianta, R., & Cox, M. (2001). Teachers’ judgements of problems in the transition to kindergarten.  Early Childhood Research Quarterly, (15) 2, 147-166.

Shanker , S. (2013).  Calm, alert, and learning: Classroom strategies for self - regulation . Toronto, ON: Pearson.

Shanker , S. (2012).  Report of the 2012 thinker in residence: Self - regulation . Subiaco, Western Australia: Commissioner for Children and Young People Western Australia. Retrieved from  http://www. self - regulation .ca/download/pdf_documents/Thinker%20in%20Residence%20report%202012.pdf

Souvignier, E., & Mokhlesgerami, J. Using self - regulation as a framework for implementing strategy instruction to foster reading comprehension.  Learning and Instruction, 16,  57-71.

Westwood, P.  Commonsense methods for children with special needs: strategies for the regular classroom . (4 th  ed). London: Routledge-Falmer, 2004.  Eric . Web. 29, April, 2014.

Zimmerman, B. (1990). Self -regulated learning and academic achievement: An overview.  Educational Psychologist, 25 (1), 3-17.

Zumbrunn, S., Tadlock, J., & Roberts, E.D. (2011).  Self - regulation and motivation: A review of the literature . Invited paper for the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium, Richmond, VA.

Additional Resources

The CanLearn Society has developed the “Take Ten Spotlight Series: Strategies & Tools for Teaching Students with Learning Disabilities/ADHD”.  Click here to visit the CanLearn Society website and click on the link to " Self - Regulation ".

[1] Dysregulation: an impairment or interruption pf a regulatory system that interferes with a child’s ability to regulate him or herself in a domain ( Shanker , 2013, p. 159).

[2] Principles directly quoted and paraphrased from (Butler et al., 2005, pp. 159/160).

Michael Fairbrother is currently in his first year of a doctoral program at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. His concentration is in Teaching, Learning and Evaluation, and his research goals are primarily focused on bridging the gap between research and practice for elementary students at-risk for learning difficulties in reading. It is Fairbrother’s hope to contribute to the creation of an effective framework involving parents, teachers and all other stakeholders directly connected to the learning experiences of young students before and upon their entry to school. Before beginning his PhD at UofO, Fairbrother graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.Ed. in general elementary instruction in 2006. Fairbrother completed his M.Ed. concentrating in Special Education in 2011. Fairbrother has seven years’ experience teaching grades three through seven and two years’ experience as a special education resource teacher in British Columbia public elementary schools.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

Signup for our newsletter.

Get notified when new resources are posted on the website!

Sign up to receive our electronic newsletter!

Recent Posts

• Webinar Recording: Leading and Staying on Track – Leveraging Data to Monitor and Implement Informed Programs That Make an Impact
• Working with SLPs to Support Communication and Literacy
• Webinar Recording: SORing After Primary – Morphing into Meaning

Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation Essay

Introduction, the role of the government in regulating businesses, self-regulation of businesses, reference list.

The government and business participate in the process of executing their respective economic roles. The government plays the role of governing by controlling and directing people on how to carry out their economic activities.

The administration controls and guides various state parties or persons who have the power of developing the courses of action. Business entities constitute one of the parties within a state, which the government has a share in their operations.

Business entities encompass all organizations that engage in the trading of goods and services. Governments and business entities demonstrate a mutual relationship.

Businesses thrive in environments in which the government has established policies to guide their conducts through the enactment and development of authoritative rules or a condition that customarily governs behavior while not curtailing businesses’ fundamental freedoms.

For example, businesses must serve the interests of the communities. Thus, the government ensures equal public participation in business processes. Should the government engage in the regulation of all businesses, including their decision-making process and the setting of their policies?

This paper addresses the role of government regulation on businesses. The goal is to determine whether businesses should operate as free entities by ensuring deregulation.

The government plays a proactive role in ensuring a fair play of businesses in the process of executing their functions. In all markets, the government regulates the conduct of business players. Indeed, even in liberalized markets, businesses should be monitored to avoid unethical practices among the competing entities.

The government safeguards the environment, promotes fair labor practices, and/or guarantees healthier working conditions while at the same time setting the minimum wage for workers. Businesses also have a responsibility of developing their self-regulatory models.

However, the government should play the ultimate role in ensuring that the set standards are met and that all stakeholders operate within the laid down regulations.

Organizations are established to perform different functions depending on whether they are profit-making or non-profit-making entities. For profit-making organizations, their strategies are developed consistently with the profit maximization behavior in mind.

Thus, business strategies are formulated in accordance with the need to enhance the performance of a firm in the short and long term. Rumelt, Schendel, and Teece (2009) provide evidence for this assertion by claiming, “As never before, strategic management academics have adopted the language and logic of economics” (p. 5).

The magnitude of profit is one of the most crucial parameters to measure business performance. In this context, neoclassical economics firms are characterized by profit maximization.

Such firms make products through the deployment of cost-analysis formulas that ensure that marginal revenues are equal to marginal costs. While increasing profit levels, minimal costs should be less than marginal revenues.

Without appropriate regulation, the profit maximization behavior may be explored as a business policy without paying ardent consideration to the negative consequences of their cost reduction strategies on stakeholders.

Therefore, the government needs to engage in business regulations to protect the interest of various stakeholders who may be harmed by a business entity when it is permitted to make decisions without appropriate guidance.

The government has interest in the regulation of businesses in the context of various issues such as health, safety standard in administrative centers, wages and salaries, advertising, imposition of taxes, and other items that relate to employee fundamental rights.

Organizations increase their profits by pushing the maximum number of products to the market. This process involves promotion through advertising. Organizations can engage in unethical practices in advertising simply to make high sales if not controlled by the government.

This claim means that through regulation, the government ensures that all marketing efforts guarantee that the target audience gains the highest good from the products. This role is well played out by the US government through its regulation of business entities.

For example, FDA has different regulations on the advertisement of pharmaceutical products. In case of advertisements of products with claims, an organization must make a fair balance in the advertisement through the inclusion of the likely risks in “major statement’ and ‘adequate provision’ for access to ‘brief summary’” (Ventola, 2011, p.682).

This strategy helps to avoid the transfer of product risks to their intended consumers who are targeted by business entities’ advertising campaigns.

In the US, state and federal laws protect individuals and organizations’ intellectual properties (IP). Thus, one of the issues that relate to IP entails theft or infringement of copyright. The IP bears national and international perspectives.

National laws and regulations control and protect patents. International conventions guarantee that the licenses have specific rights while also ensuring that laws exist to enforce the rights in contractual relationships.

Legal litigation involving IP resolves the question of whether the defendant has copied the claimed work or invention or whether the plaintiff owns the claimed work.

Therefore, through regulation by means of legislation, the government ensures that the operations of a business entity do not lead to infringement of other state parties’ rights.

These expositions reveal how the government plays the role of ensuring a fair play in business practices and relations through the development and implementation of regulations with which business entities must comply.

The government plays an essential role in regulating businesses to ensure environmental sustainability. To this extent, companies are required by state organizations that are in charge of regulating business conducts, especially if they interfere with the environment, to ensure that they produce and distribute green products.

Indeed, ensuring sustainable modern supply chains is essential for businesses, especially following the heavy emphasis on producing and giving out green products in the effort to curb environmental degradation.

Adopting green business strategies is not only a measure for ensuring sustainable long-term business operations but also a measure for ensuring that an organization behaves and acts in a socially responsible manner.

This claim reveals how government regulation can help businesses to develop strategies for ensuring environmental cautiousness by setting acceptable standards in relation to waste generation and disposal.

Although individual states have environmental regulations, government agencies and international treaties may also create additional directives.

For example, in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency plays the role of enforcing various environmental laws that are enacted by the federal governments.

It accomplished this mission through inspections, enhancing, and ensuring transparency and accountability in business operations to the environment. It also guarantees compliance with the established laws.

Apart from the environment, the labor sector is another crucial area of government regulation. Businesses face the changing government regulations. In fact, employment and labor constitute one of the areas that the government has an interest in establishing rules in a bid to safeguard the interests and rights of workers.

In the US, employment and labor laws relate to the regulation of minimum wages, compliance with health standards, safety in the work environments, equality in terms of accessing employment opportunities, and privacy regulations among other issues.

One of the most important mechanisms for regulating employment and labor is ensuring employees’ freedom to choose to remain employed by a business establishment without any coercion. In the US, the government ensures that businesses respect this right through the employment-at-will doctrine.

With an exception of Montana, in all regions in the US, employment contracts are guided by the employment-at-will doctrine. In other nations, employment dismissals are based on reasonable causes.

States that retain the at-will-presumption assert that the law is essential in respecting contract freedoms and/or ensuring employer reverence. Instead of job security, most employers and employees prefer the presumption.

The employment-at-will doctrine holds that employers have the right and freedom of terminating employee(s) at any particular time for whatever reason they deem necessary apart from an illegal purpose and/or when an organization does not incur any liability.

The doctrine also allows employees to quit their jobs any time without giving any reason or having to issue a notification. Once they follow this path, they should not face any legal consequence.

Government regulations of conducts of businesses through doctrines such as the employment-at-will attract criticisms to the extent that some companies may capitalize on the available loopholes to disadvantage some employees.

For instance, the at-will presumption gives employers the freedom to alter employment terms without giving prior notice and/or without attracting any legal consequences. This observation means that employers can change wages and salaries and withdraw certain benefits without any legal liability.

Therefore, in the absence of any modification, the laws open employees to the vulnerability of arbitrary dismissals or being called for work without following any schedule to meet the employers’ needs.

In many states, including South Carolina, contractual terms modify the employment-at-will doctrine. For instance, employers and employees can enter into contracts with the provision for termination in an event of a cause.

In South Carolina and other states, apart from Montana, negotiations for contractual employment terms are mainly done with top-ranking employees only.

This situation leaves low-ranking employees with the collective bargaining as the only option for modification of the employment-at-will doctrine that is anchored in employment and labor laws.

This case suggests that the adherence to proper principles of protection of employee rights also requires not only government regulations through laws, but also the willingness of businesses to participate with goodwill in the development of policies for protecting employee employment relations.

Should the Government Intervene to Protect Culture, Enforce Minimum Wages, Safety Standards, and/or Prevent Unjust Discrimination?

Profit-making businesses embrace bargaining economic models in realizing their objectives. The model “presumes that an organization is a cooperative, sometimes competitive, resource distributing system” (Barney 2007, p.68.).

Competitiveness in the allocation of resources is enhanced through strategies, for instance, cost reduction in relation to the anticipated returns on investments.

In this context, Collins and Jerry (1996) reckon, “Decisions, problems, and goals are more useful when shared by a greater number of people with each decision-maker bargaining with other groups for scarce resources, which are vital in solving problems and meeting goals” (p.87).

The proclaimed goals refer to the aims and objectives of an organization as stipulated in the businesses’ action plans and terms.

Strategic plans establish action plans that are established in the implementation plan procedures (Barney 2007). The concept of cost reduction that is embraced in business strategic management approaches is analogous or even equal to the cost elements that are used in profit-maximization models.

For maximum profits, costs must remain low. In some situations, this process may involve the cutting down of labor costs and/or reduction of benefits provided to employees.

Therefore, the government needs to get involved to ensure that businesses provide wages and salaries that can enable employees to live a worthwhile life.

Under the principles of corporate social responsibility, businesses have a responsibility to ensure that they do not just serve their interest while ignoring the benefit of other stakeholders.

While this situation is expected to streamline business behaviors, checks are essential for businesses that fail to comply with corporate responsibility ethical requirements by exploring discriminatory policies, exploiting employees, and/or failing to ensure safety standards among other issues.

Therefore, the government needs to intervene to regulate businesses to enforce minimum wages, safety standards, and/or prevent unjust discrimination. Indeed, safety comprises an essential factor that many governments control across the globe. Protection may apply to workplaces and in products and services.

The US government ensures ardent regulation of businesses with respect to product safety. Product safety involves proper product labeling and description of packaged contents.

The ingredient that is described on the product label should not only match the contents, but also reveal the substances that are permitted by the Foods and Drug Regulation Administration (FDA) body. The FDA inspects mass-produced products to ensure that businesses meet this ethical requirement.

This plan ensures that unethical businesses do not sell unsubstantiated products, which may cause damage to their consumers.

The government has the responsibility of ensuring that businesses do not explore discriminatory policies while employing people or evaluating contracts bids. The 2009 data from the US Census Bureau depicted a close relationship between small business populations’ racial and gender characteristic.

According to the data, women represented 28 percent of all active contractors. This figure corresponded to 28 percent of their total share of the population of people who engage in small businesses that focus on contracting or subcontracting with federal governments.

From the context of minority groups, data from the same organization showed that persons of color accounted for 24 percent of all active small business contractors against their population of 20 percent in the overall population of small businesses.

This data indicates that small business owners have equal opportunities in winning a federal contract, irrespective of gender, or racial demographic characteristics.

Apart from the federal governments, even in private business establishments, the government has a responsibility for ensuring equality and fair play among different business industry actors.

It is essential for the government to ensure that organizations do not engage in practices that lead to the exploitation of employees in terms of salaries and wages by regulating minimum payments and/or denying benefits such as health insurance.

It also needs to intervene to guarantee that unjust discrimination does not occur. However, it is essential to note that some otherwise considered discriminatory practices are beyond the government control.

Female small industrialists encounter challenges that are articulated to business formation and equal engagement in government contracts.

In the effort to ensure that the businesses overcome these challenges, the US government has created policies such as affirmative action to increase the number of minority-owned small business firms that can secure government contracts.

For instance, it has established a policy that requires the reservation of 5% of all contracts that are awarded by federal governments to minority-owned small businesses (Trechiel & Scott, 2006).

Nevertheless, such policies do not necessarily translate into increasing the number of marginalized people-owned small businesses that engage in government contracting. Why does this situation occur?

Inequalities exist between men-owned and women-owned small businesses. The organization reveals that women-owned business revenue accounted for only 9 percent of the entire US economy in comparison with the 36 percent contribution from the revenue that was generated by the men-owned small business enterprise in 2011.

This observation suggests that in case women increase their revenue objectives to equalize with small businesses that are owned by men, they are likely to make a more significant economic impact. However, a scholarly question emerges on how this goal can be accomplished.

Trechiel and Scott (2006) suggest that women small business owners lack adequate “negotiating, assertiveness, and decision-making skills” (p.52).

Government regulations fail to resolve any inequality that arises from differences in expertise levels. Government regulation only provides legal processes that ensure that the best business owners in terms of skills and knowledge bases acquire contracts and opportunities to do business with it.

In the process of protecting employee interests, the government needs to take part in the development of policies for regulating business conducts. The plans should address the freedom of unionization.

Labor unions are essential in different nations. They ensure the protection of employee interests. They fight for better salaries and wages, reasonable working hours, and safe and conducive work environments for their members.

Labor unions also fight for unsuitable forms of labor, such as child labor. They ensure that employees gain health benefits. They also support people who are injured in work environments to pursue their rights through the payment of damages.

This claim suggests that the government needs to support the ordinary course that employees pursue through labor unions. Such a course reflects significant areas of concern to the government while developing employment and labor regulations.

Businesses have different cultures. As a way of making sure that all organizational stakeholders focus on common goals and objectives, it is essential for them to subscribe to a common form of thinking, interacting, and upholding values and norms.

Organizational norms, standards, and ways of thinking define an organizational culture, which needs to be aligned with the operations of a business entity.

Organizations’ cultural elements constitute some underlying assumptions that when adopted and observed by all stakeholders, especially the diverse workforce, can aid in enhancing the success of a business entity.

This claim suggests that any government interference with a business entity’s traditions through cultural regulation influences the variation of norms and values that differentiate business entities.

Thus, such regulations may create an inappropriate organizational cultural hegemony within a nation after considering that a culture is an essential aspect of business entities’ competitive advantage.

While it is crucial for governments to regulate some aspects of business, others such as culture are inappropriate. An alternative to government regulation of businesses entails allowing organizations to behave as good corporate citizens.

They need to self-regulate themselves in matters of cultures, policies on minimum wages, safety standards, and/or protection of employees against unjust discrimination.

An emerging question is whether organizations should protect culture, enforce minimum wages, safety standards, and/or prevent unjust discrimination through self-regulation.

Government regulations are important in ensuring that businesses balance the interests of different stakeholders rather than focusing on profit maximization behavior.

However, in the absence of government regulation, business entities also need to develop their internal mechanisms for ensuring protection of their cultures.

They need to shun from exploring policies that encourage unjust practices such as discrimination or failing to provide safe and healthy working environments for their employees.

A good functioning of an organization requires control and monitoring. One of the ways of ensuring self-regulation in business entails respecting the principle of corporate responsibility and corporate governance.

Corporate governance comprises one of the ways of controlling and enhancing the monitoring of business operations.

At its basic premise is the need to alleviate disagreements of interest among partners. This agenda is mostly accomplished through the enactment of various customs, laws, processes, policies and institutions, which have enormous repercussions in terms of affecting the manner in which businesses are controlled.

Eliminating conflicts of interest between businesses and employees requires firms to develop and implement policies that guarantee fundamental freedoms of employees, including unionization.

Corporate governance policies and other control structures may help to regulate employee conducts and decisions by defining what is ethically permitted. However, organizational culture may act as important regulator of employee decision-making processes.

Businesses owners need to effectively deploy strategic initiatives to instill an influential culture of loyalty, which helps to drive ethical decision-making processes among employees. Through utilitarianism as an appropriate ethical theory to influence business culture, self-regulating becomes possible.

For example, as a self- regulation mechanism, businesses can deploy utilitarianism to regulate employee cultures so that without government regulation, different stakeholders can act in a manner that guarantees utmost good for all.

In the formation of organizational cultures, governments’ influence is inappropriate after considering that regulations must apply harmoniously within different organizations. This situation creates a government-induced cultural hegemony in various businesses. Thus, they lack the opportunity to differentiate themselves.

Therefore, governments should not regulate organizational cultures, unless where such cultures pursue policies that are misaligned with the acceptable practices in corporate social responsibility and ethics such as failure to embrace organizational diversity, which may lead to discrimination of employees on racial, ethnic, and gender lines when remunerating them or giving various benefits.

Although organizations should not be regulated by influencing or protecting cultures, regulation is essential on other matters such as enforcing minimum wages, safety standards and preventing unmerited favoritism.

This position is held with reference to the various experiences in which businesses have pursued policies that disadvantage employees through their exploration, amid the existence of government regulations on these issues.

For example, over the last decade, some major manufacturing organizations have encountered criticisms over exploration of policies that have led to the re-emergence of sweatshops accompanied by discrimination and the paying of low wages.

Some business entities, especially in areas that are exempted from minimum wage laws and/or regions that are dominated by consistent denial of the freedom to unionize, employees are often subjected to poor working conditions and low pay. In such businesses, child labor is also high.

The current US government labor laws prohibit businesses from employing minors. The government also places legal requirements that improve the rights of workers, such as setting minimum wage and the number of hours per work shift.

This achievement has been realized through intensive struggles of labor movements against sweatshops that appeared during the industrial revolution. Such regulation ensures that organizations do not self-regulate themselves on matters that undermine the rights of the citizenry.

This position is perhaps correct considering that failure to comply with the established business conventions may not attract any legal liability.

In this context, Powell (2012,) asserts, “trade unions, minimum wage laws, fire safety laws, and labor laws have made sweatshops rare in the developed world” (p.452).

Nevertheless, such achievements have not eliminated sweatshops in the US, although the term is more related to manufacturing organizations in the developing nations.

This claim suggests the necessity of government regulation for businesses to ensure that they continue respecting human rights in their policies rather than just focusing on increasing their profitability by overworking employees or paying them low wages and salaries.

Businesses have the responsibility of motivating their employees, enhancing safe working environment, and/or guaranteeing job satisfaction. Therefore, government regulations on work environment standards also produce positive implications for businesses.

Employees who are treated poorly produce goods that fail to pass the quality test. Through government regulations, appropriate conditions are also created for businesses to benefit from employee commitment.

Self-regulation in some businesses gives them the freedom to explore policies that are not in agreement with employee safety and health. For example, it is common in China and other developing nations to find garment factories in which workers execute their daily routines in an environment that has fiber-dust enriched air.

Permitting businesses to pay their workers without following government-enacted regulations on minimum wages only creates the likelihood of companies to underpay them or keep on reviewing their salaries and wages upward and downward.

Such a situation exposes employees to business operational environment dynamics to the extent that they cannot plan their lives well. This claim is perhaps well evidenced by the case of Honduran garment manufacturing factory.

In 2003, employees at the factory were paid only USD0.24 for every shirt and USD0.15 for a long-sleeved t-shirt. Shirts went for USD50 in the retail market. This finding suggests that even if a worker makes 100 shirts in a day, he or she will still not afford a single shirt that he or she makes, notwithstanding other daily needs.

Therefore, the government needs to intervene to regulate Honduran garment in terms of imposing regulations on minimum wage and salaries.

For several years, Nike has faced criticisms for employing children in its Cambodia-based plants. However, the company refuted the accusations claiming that it was possible for people in Cambodia to fake their age by corruptly obtaining false documents.

The company uses a minimal portion of the cost of production of its pair of shoes (70 pounds) in the payment of labor.

Whether this assertion is true or not, government regulation of minimum wages and salaries can help to eliminate such negative accusations, which may impair the success of a business, especially where some nations prohibit the exportation or importation of products that are produced with child labor, discrimination, and/or in unsafe work environments.

Apart from the criticism for the violation of labor laws that govern the operation of manufacturing businesses in the US, other objections have been raised in other factories such as Addidas. Among the major concerns in these businesses are low wages and poor conditions of working in Asian-based production plants.

Bad working conditions pose a major threat to employee safety or occupational health. Therefore, the government needs to mediate to discourage self-regulation by putting in place regulations for enforcing minimum wages and safety standards while at the same time preventing unjust discrimination.

Businesses need to operate with policies that ensure that they defend the welfare of all their partners. Corporate governance and corporate responsibility may aid them to eliminate unjust discrimination, underpayment of employees, and the development of a business culture that undermines employee rights such as unionization.

However, businesses that seek to operate as good corporate citizens develop and implement such principles. However, this move may not serve interest of all businesses.

Therefore, by allowing the freedom of self-regulation on matters of minimum wages, safety standards, and preventing unjust discrimination, some businesses may exploit employees with the objective of making optimal profits.

Consequently, government regulation is relevant on issues such as minimum wages, safety standards, and preventing unjust discrimination. However, it is essential to create a nationwide business cultural hegemony. Thus, self-regulation of businesses on matters of protection of culture is essential.

Barney, J. (2007). Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage . New Jersey, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Collins, J., & Jerry, I. (1996). Building Your Company’s Vision. Harvard Business Review, 32 (5), 65–90.

Powell, B. (2012). The Ethics and Economic Case Against Sweatshop Labor. Journal of Business Ethics, 107 (4), 449-472.

Rumelt, P., Schendel, D., & Teece, J. (2009). Strategic Management and Economics. Strategic Management Journal, 12 (2), 5-29.

Shih, H., & Chiang, Y. (2005). Strategy alignment between HRM, KM, and corporate development. Information Journal of Manpower, 26 (6), 582–603.

Trechiel, M., & Scott, J. (2006). Women-Owned Businesses and Access to Bank Credit: Evidence from Three Surveys since 1987. Venture Capital, 8 (1), 51-67.

Ventola, L. (2011). Direct-To-Consumer Pharmaceutical Advertising. Journal of Managed Care and Hospital Formulary Management, 36 (10), 681–684.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, December 27). Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation. https://ivypanda.com/essays/business-regulation-government-or-self-regulation/

"Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation." IvyPanda , 27 Dec. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/business-regulation-government-or-self-regulation/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation'. 27 December.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation." December 27, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/business-regulation-government-or-self-regulation/.

1. IvyPanda . "Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation." December 27, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/business-regulation-government-or-self-regulation/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Business Regulation: Government or Self-regulation." December 27, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/business-regulation-government-or-self-regulation/.

• Social Cognitive Theory Influence on Work Effectiveness Within a Professional Team
• Netflix: Solving the Problem of Increasing People's Stress Tolerance
• Practical PR Strategies for Reputation Management
• Secure Online Shopping System Model on Customer Behavior
• Reaching the Critical Mass in eMarketplaces
• Internet-Based Loyalty Programs
• Amazon E-Business Model
• E-Marketplace Solutions and Complementary Services

Self-Introduction Essay

A Self Introduction Essay is a window into your personality, goals, and experiences. Our guide, supplemented with varied essay examples , offers insights into crafting a compelling narrative about yourself. Ideal for college applications, job interviews, or personal reflections, these examples demonstrate how to weave your personal story into an engaging essay. Learn to highlight your strengths, aspirations, and journey in a manner that captivates your readers, making your introduction not just informative but also memorable.

What is Self Introduction Essay? A self-introduction essay is a written piece where you describe yourself in a personal and detailed way. It’s a way to introduce who you are, including your name, background, interests, achievements, and goals. This type of essay is often used for college or job applications, allowing others to get to know you better. It’s an opportunity to showcase your personality, experiences, and what makes you unique. Writing a self-introduction essay involves talking about your educational background, professional experiences if any, personal interests, and future aspirations. It’s a chance to highlight your strengths, achievements, and to share your personal story in a way that is engaging and meaningful.

Do you still remember the first time you’ve written an essay ? I bet you don’t even know it’s called an “essay” back then. And back then you might be wondering what’s the purpose such composition, and why are you writing something instead of hanging out with your friends.

Download Self-Introduction Essay Bundle

Now, you probably are already familiar with the definition of an essay, and the basics of writing one. You’re also probably aware of the purpose of writing essays and the different writing styles one may use in writing a composition. Here, we will be talking about self-introduction essay, and look into different example such as personal essay which you may refer to.

Self Introduction Essay Format

Introduction.

Start with a hook: Begin with an interesting fact, a question, or a compelling statement about yourself to grab the reader’s attention. State your name and a brief background: Share your name, age, and where you’re from or what you currently do (student, job role).

Educational Background

Discuss your current or most recent educational experience: Mention your school, college, or university and your major or area of study. Highlight academic achievements or interests: Share any honors, awards, or special projects that are relevant to your personality or career goals.

Professional Background

Mention your current job or professional experiences: Briefly describe your role, company, or the type of work you do. Highlight relevant skills or achievements: Share experiences that showcase your abilities and contributions to your field.

Personal Interests and Goals

Share your hobbies or interests: Briefly describe activities you enjoy or passions you pursue outside of work or school. Discuss your short-term and long-term goals: Explain what you aim to achieve in the near future and your aspirations for the long term.

Summarize your strengths and what makes you unique: Reinforce key points about your skills, achievements, or character. Close with a statement on what you hope to achieve or contribute in your next role, educational pursuit, or personal endeavor.

Example of Self Introduction Essay in English

Hello! My name is Alex Johnson, a 21-year-old Environmental Science major at Green Valley University, passionate about sustainable living and conservation efforts. Raised in the bustling city of New York, I’ve always been fascinated by the contrast between urban life and the natural world, driving me to explore how cities can become more sustainable.   Currently, in my final year at Green Valley University, I’ve dedicated my academic career to understanding the complexities of environmental science. My coursework has included in-depth studies on renewable energy sources, water conservation techniques, and sustainable agriculture. I’ve achieved Dean’s List status for three consecutive years and led a successful campus-wide recycling initiative that reduced waste by 30%.   This past summer, I interned with the City Planning Department of New York, focusing on green spaces in urban areas. I worked on a project that aimed to increase the city’s green coverage by 10% over the next five years. This hands-on experience taught me the importance of practical solutions in environmental conservation and sparked my interest in urban sustainability.   Beyond academics, I’m an avid hiker and nature photographer, believing strongly in the power of visual storytelling to raise awareness about environmental issues. My goal is to merge my passion for environmental science with my love for photography to create impactful narratives that promote conservation.   In the future, I aspire to work for an NGO that focuses on urban sustainability, contributing to projects that integrate green spaces into city planning. I am also considering further studies in environmental policy, hoping to influence positive change on a global scale.   My journey from a curious city dweller to an aspiring environmental scientist has been driven by a deep passion for understanding and protecting our natural world. With a solid educational foundation and practical experience, I am eager to contribute to meaningful environmental conservation efforts. I believe that by combining scientific knowledge with creative communication, we can inspire a more sustainable future for urban areas around the globe.

Self Introduction Essay for Job

Self Introduction Essay for Students

Self Introduction Essay Example

Size: 119 KB

Self Introduction For College Students  Example

Size: MS Word

Simple Self Introduction For Job  Example

Size: 88.4 KB

Free Self Introduction For Kids  Example

Size: 123 KB

Simple Self Introduction  Example

Size: 178 KB

Self Introduction For Freshers  Example

Size: 96.2 KB

Free Self Introduction For Interview  Example

Size: 129 KB

Company Self Introduction Example

Size: 125 KB

Self Introduction For First Day At Work Sample

Size: 124 KB

Sample Self Introduction for Scholarship  Example

scholarshipsaz.org

Size: 33 KB

Free Self Introduction Sample  Example

au-pair4you.at

Size: 22 KB

Creative Essay for Internship Example

wikileaks.org

What to Write in a Self-Introduction Essay

A self-introduction essay, as the name suggest, is an part of an essay containing the basic information about the writer.

In writing a self-introduction essay, the writer intends to introduce himself/herself by sharing a few personal information including the basics (e.g. name, age, hometown, etc.), his/her background information (e.g. family background, educational background, etc.), and interesting facts about him/her (e.g. hobbies, interests, etc). A self-introductory essay primarily aims to inform the readers about a few things regarding the writer. You may also see personal essay examples & samples

How to Write a Self-Introduction Essay

A self-introduction essay is, in most cases, written using the first-person point of view. As a writer, you simply need to talk about yourself and nothing more to a specific audience. You may also like  essay writing examples

A self-introduction essay can be easy to write, since all you have to do is to introduce yourself. However, one needs to avoid sounding like a robot or a person speaking in monotone. Of course, you need to make the composition interesting and engaging, instead of making it plain and bland. This is probably the main challenge of writing a self-introduction essay, and the first thing every writer needs to be aware of.

Free Essay Outline Worksheet Example

englishwithhallum.com

Size: 40 KB

Free Interesting Self Introduction for Student  Example

essayforum.com

Size: 14 KB

Free Attractive Introduction Essay for Interview  Example

michaeltran27.weebly.com

Size: 17 KB

Formal Self Introduction Expository  Example

teacherweb.com

Uses of Self Introduction Essay

• College Applications : Many universities and colleges ask for a self-introduction essay as part of the application process. This essay allows admissions officers to learn more about your personality, background, and aspirations beyond your grades and test scores.
• Scholarship Applications : When applying for scholarships, a self-introduction essay can help you stand out. It’s an opportunity to share your achievements, experiences, and the reasons you deserve the scholarship.
• Job Interviews : Preparing a self-introduction essay can be useful for job interviews. It helps you articulate your professional background, skills, and career goals clearly and confidently.
• Networking : In professional networking situations, having a polished self-introduction essay can help you quickly share relevant information about yourself with potential employers, mentors, or colleagues.
• Personal Reflection : Writing a self-introduction essay is a valuable exercise in self-reflection. It can help you understand your own goals, strengths, and weaknesses better.
• Online Profiles : For personal or professional websites, social media, or portfolios, a self-introduction essay provides a comprehensive overview of who you are and what you offer, attracting potential connections or opportunities.

Tips for Writing a Self-Introduction Essay

A self-introduction essay might be one of the easiest essays to start. However, one needs to learn a few things to make the composition worth reading. You might find a lot of tips online on how to write a self-introduction essay, but here are some tips which you might find useful.

1. Think of a catchy title

The first thing that attracts readers is an interesting title, so create one.

2. Introduce yourself

You can create some guide questions to answer like: Who are you? What are your interests? What is your story? Simply talk about yourself like you’re talking to someone you just met.

3. Find a focus

Your life story is too broad, so focus on something, like: What makes you unique?

4. Avoid writing plainly

For example, instead of saying: ‘I like listening to classical music’, you can say: ‘My dad gave me an album containing classical music when I was five, and after listening to it, I was really captivated. I’ve loved it since then.’ You may also check out high school essay examples & samples

5. Simplify your work

Use simple words and language. Write clearly. Describe details vividly.

6. End it with a punch

You cannot just plainly say ‘The End’ at the last part. Create a essay conclusion which would leave an impression to your readers.

7. Edit your work

After wrapping up, take time to review and improve your work. You may also see informative essay examples & samples

What is a Creative Self Introduction Essay?

1. Choose a Theme or Metaphor:

Start with a theme or metaphor that reflects your personality or the message you want to convey. For example, you could compare your life to a book, a journey, or a puzzle.

2. Engaging Hook:

Begin with an attention-grabbing hook, such as a captivating anecdote, a thought-provoking question, a quote, or a vivid description.

3. Tell a Story:

Weave your self-introduction into a narrative or story that highlights your experiences, values, or defining moments. Storytelling makes your essay relatable and memorable.

4. Use Vivid Imagery:

Employ descriptive language and vivid imagery to paint a picture of your life and character. Help the reader visualize your journey.

5. Show, Don’t Tell:

Instead of simply listing qualities or achievements, demonstrate them through your storytelling. Show your resilience, creativity, or determination through the narrative.

6. Include Personal Anecdotes:

Share personal anecdotes that showcase your character, challenges you’ve overcome, or moments of growth.

7. Express Your Passions:

Discuss your passions, interests, hobbies, or aspirations. Explain why they are important to you and how they have influenced your life.

8. Reveal Vulnerability:

Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability or share setbacks you’ve faced. It adds depth to your story and demonstrates your resilience.

9. Highlight Achievements:

Mention significant achievements, awards, or experiences that have shaped your journey. Connect them to your personal growth and values.

10. Convey Your Personality:

Use humor, wit, or elements of your personality to make your essay unique and relatable. Let your voice shine through.

11. Share Future Aspirations:

Discuss your goals, dreams, and what you hope to achieve in the future. Explain how your experiences have prepared you for your next steps.

12. Conclude with a Message:

Wrap up your essay with a meaningful message or reflection that leaves a lasting impression on the reader.

13. Revise and Edit:

After writing your initial draft, revise and edit your essay for clarity, coherence, and conciseness. Ensure it flows smoothly.

How do you write an introduction to a self essay?

1. Start with a Hook:

Begin with an engaging hook to capture the reader’s attention. This could be a personal anecdote, a thought-provoking question, a quote, or a vivid description. The hook should relate to the essay’s theme.

2. Introduce Yourself:

After the hook, introduce yourself by stating your name and any relevant background information, such as your age, place of origin, or current location. This helps provide context.

3. Establish the Purpose:

Clearly state the purpose of your self-essay. Explain why you are writing it and what you aim to convey. Are you introducing yourself for a job application, a college admission essay, or a personal blog? Make this clear.

4. Provide a Preview:

Offer a brief preview of the main points or themes you will address in the essay. This helps set expectations for the reader and gives them an overview of what to anticipate.

5. Share Your Thesis or Central Message:

In some self-essays, especially in academic or personal development contexts, you may want to state a central message or thesis about yourself. This is the core idea you’ll explore throughout the essay.

6. Express Your Voice:

Let your unique voice and personality shine through in the introduction. Write in a way that reflects your style and character. Avoid using overly formal or stilted language if it doesn’t align with your personality.

7. Be Concise:

Keep the introduction relatively concise. It should provide an overview without delving too deeply into the details. Save the in-depth discussions for the body of the essay.

8. Revise and Edit:

After writing the introduction, review it for clarity, coherence, and conciseness. Make sure it flows smoothly and leads naturally into the main body of the essay.

Here’s an example of an introduction for a self-essay:

“Standing at the threshold of my college years, I’ve often found myself reflecting on the journey that brought me here. I am [Your Name], a [Your Age]-year-old [Your Origin or Current Location], with a passion for [Your Interests]. In this self-essay, I aim to share my experiences, values, and aspirations as I enter this new chapter of my life. Through personal anecdotes and reflections, I hope to convey the lessons I’ve learned and the person I’m becoming. My central message is that [Your Central Message or Thesis]. Join me as I explore the highs and lows of my journey and what it means to [Your Purpose or Theme].”

What is a short paragraph of self introduction

“Hello, my name is [Your Name], and I am [Your Age] years old. I grew up in [Your Hometown] and am currently studying [Your Major or Grade Level] at [Your School or University]. I have always been passionate about [Your Interests or Hobbies], and I love exploring new challenges and experiences. In my free time, I enjoy [Your Activities or Hobbies], and I’m excited to be here and share my journey with all of you.”

How do I start my self introduction?

1. Greet the Audience:

Start with a warm and friendly greeting. This sets a positive tone and makes you approachable.

Example: “Good morning/afternoon/evening!”

2. State Your Name:

Clearly and confidently state your name. This is the most basic and essential part of any self-introduction.

Example: “My name is [Your Name].”

3. Provide Additional Background Information:

Depending on the context, you may want to share additional background information. Mention where you are from, your current location, or your job title, if relevant.

Example: “I’m originally from [Your Hometown], but I currently live in [Your Current Location].”

4. Express Enthusiasm:

Express your enthusiasm or eagerness to be in the situation or context where you are introducing yourself.

Example: “I’m thrilled to be here today…”

5. State the Purpose:

Clearly state the purpose of your self-introduction. Are you introducing yourself for a job interview, a social gathering, or a specific event? Make it clear why you are introducing yourself.

Example: “…to interview for the [Job Title] position.”

6. Offer a Brief Teaser:

Give a brief teaser or hint about what you’ll be discussing. This can generate interest and set the stage for the rest of the introduction.

Example: “I’ll be sharing my experiences as a [Your Profession] and how my background aligns with the requirements of the role.”

7. Keep It Concise:

Keep your introduction concise, especially in professional settings. You can provide more details as the conversation progresses.

8. Be Confident and Maintain Eye Contact:

Deliver your introduction with confidence and maintain eye contact with the audience or the person you’re addressing.

How can I start my self introduction example?

Hi, I’m [Your Name]. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. I come from [Your Hometown], and today, I’m excited to tell you a bit about myself. I have a background in [Your Education or Profession], and I’m here to share my experiences, skills, and passions. But before I dive into that, let me give you a glimpse into the person behind the resume. So, here’s a little about me…”

For more insights on crafting a compelling self-introduction, the University of Nevada, Reno’s Writing & Speaking Center provides valuable resources. These can enhance your essay-writing skills, especially in crafting introductions that make a lasting impression.

Self Introduction Essay Generator

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Write a Self Introduction Essay that highlights your unique qualities.

Create a Self Introduction Essay outlining your academic interests.

Self Introduction For Kids Example

Self Introduction For Freshers Example

Self Introduction For Interview Example