Humility predicts resistance to substance use: A self-control perspective

ABSTRACT

Past research indicates that humility predicts enhanced self-control. In the present research, two event-sampling studies and a longitudinal study were conducted to test the hypothesis that humility facilitates the capacity in resisting substance consumption. Undergraduates rated their alcohol and tobacco dependence every three days across either four sessions (Study 1) or six sessions (Study 2). Humility was reported across four time-points in Study 1, and measured at the first session in Study 2. In Study 3, data from inmates in a prison facility for drug offenders were collected across three time-points over 8 months, including data for humility and emotion regulation strategies at the first and second time-points. Information on whether they experienced a relapse was coded at the third time-point, which was six months after they were released. Across three studies, humility predicted greater resistance against substance use. In Study 3, we found that cognitive reappraisal mediated this relationship.

KEYWORDS:

• Humility
• self-control
• substance use
• cognitive reappraisal

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible with the approval of the Singapore Prison Service.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This design is limited by inherent practical constraints. Ideally, there should be another drug-using sample not in treatment to serve as the control group. However, in Singapore, such individuals would have been detained, and it is unethical to not refer any known drug users to the relevant agencies for help. Also due to practical considerations, some variables could not be measured at specific time-points. For instance, it was logistically difficult to track down the participants to complete more questionnaires after their release.

2. In Singapore, persons convicted of drug consumption can be given rehabilitation at a drug rehabilitation centre or punished by incarceration, depending on whether there were previous convictions of drug consumption (‘Misuse of Drugs Act,’ 2001).

3. Upon admission at T1, participants also rated the Texas Christian University Drug Screen II (TCUDS-II) which is a widely used tool to measure substance use severity (Knight, Simpson, & Hiller, 2002). They rated their substance dependence over the past 12 months (e.g. ‘Did you spend a lot of time getting drugs, using them, or recovering from their use?’). This measure could serve as a proxy for initial drug use. However, it did not correlate with relapse, r_s = −.04, p = .68. For this reason and to enhance power, we did not include this measure in the mediation model.