Testing Hirschi's Redefinition of Self Control



Testing Hirschi's Redefinition of Self Control

Overview of the Article

The article selected for the purpose of critique is “The Influence of the Social Bond on Self-control at the Moment of Decision: Testing Hirschi's Redefinition of Self-control” which was written by Jeffrey A. Bouffard & Stephen K. Rice in 2010. The study basically deals with examining the argument provided by Hirschi related to the explanation of self control. The study is based on presenting a scenario which is hypothetical and relates to driving in a situation when one is drunk. More specifically, the study aims to 'investigate the link between the levels of social bond individuals have and their ability to control themselves when decisions are being made.' This aim is achieved by utilizing the explanation provided by Hirschi.

Hirschi redefined controlling oneself as relating to the decision moment and is highly influenced by levels of social bonding individuals possess (Hirschi, 2004). Being specific, Hirschi defined that the self control can be measured in terms of costs and salience while making decisions. The study resulted in supporting the Hirschi's redefinition by providing evidence that the levels of self control are influenced by the social bonds in the situations of making decisions (Jeffrey, Bouffard & Stephen, 2010).

Description of the Research Problem

The basic research problem is to identify the extent of the relationship between social bonds and self control. Individuals who are bonded socially to a greater extent are usually found having higher potential costs and more salience, resulting in greater self control. Individuals with less social bonding are more likely to evidence less self-control.

Research Methodology

To investigate the topic, the authors used a sample size of 311 consisting of college aged adults. The sample was selected from the criminology class at Mid-Western University. An information guide was provided to the students which defined the purpose of the study. College students were selected because they often engage in drinking problems resulting in various behavioral issues. The authors believed that the examination of college students sample is quite relevant and informative. The sample selected was more homogenous, the average age was 20.8 years and the contribution of male students towards the study was 53%.

Respondents were provided with hypothetical 'driving after drinking' situation in small group settings. Respondents were asked to answer a few questions after reading the scenario. The dependent variable was 'likelihood of driving after drinking' which turned out to be relatively positively skewed (Jeffrey, Bouffard & Stephen, 2010). Natural logarithm transformation procedure was used in order to critically examine situations.

The independent variable was decisional self control measure. The salience measure on an average outperformed the costs. Predicting likelihood of offences in relationship to the amount of social bonding is quite evident in the results of the study. Respondents were given seven blank lines to give maximum number of negative responses to the hypothetical scenario provided. The average was 4.18 reported numbers of costs. The authors had tried to link their questions and their research setting with Hirschi's ...