People that have low self-control and are impulsive are more likely to engage in selfless acts, researchers state.
For a long time now, psychologists have assumed that in most situations, the first thought that crosses one's mind is selfish and people need to be self controlled in order to act in a social manner. However, a new study by scientists from the VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands found that when in close relationships; people who have lower levels of self-control and are impulsive are more likely to portray selfless behavior than self-controlled people. They readily give up time and energy for their loved ones.
In the study, lead researcher Francesca Righetti of VU University and team looked to see whether this impulsivity benefitted others in any way. Participants of the study were real life couples and were told that they would have to speak to 12 strangers and ask them embarrassing questions; the participants were not aware that they would not have to carry through the task.
Researchers observed that people who were more self-controlled divided the task equally with each partner having to talk to 6 strangers each. However, people who were less self-controlled were willing to speak to more strangers than their partner so as to ease the burden off them. Researchers also found that among married couples, people with low self control gave more to the marriage than their partner but were slower to forgive their contraventions.
Righetti says that while this sacrificing and selfless behavior could work wonders for a relationship, it sometimes produces negative results too with the sacrificing partner compromising his or her ability to maintain a balance between personal and relationship-related concerns.
"Whether it's about which activities to engage in during free time, whose friends to go out with, or which city to live in, relationship partners often faces a divergence of interests - what is most preferred by one partner is not preferred by the other," notes Righetti.
Research on this topic is in its initial stages and so Righetti notes that much more needs to be done in the future to determine the effects of this sacrificing behavior on the well-being of the relationship.
