ABSTRACT
To lead a healthy lifestyle, people often have to exert self-control to forfeit small, immediate rewards that may jeopardize their goal to stay fit and healthy (De Ridder, Lensvelt-Mulders, Finkenauer, Stok, & Baumeister, 2012). Self-control predicts people’s propensity to resist a host of temptations, such as the temptation to eat sugary snacks, have unprotected sex, or spend too much time as a sofa spud. In the present chapter, we propose that exerting self-control may also be crucial for getting sufficient sleep, because getting a good night’s sleep is in part a matter of forfeiting small, immediate rewards that may obstruct sleep (e.g., having a cup of coffee after dinner; watching “just one more” episode of one’s favorite TV show; drinking too much alcohol). We contend that many people get insufficient sleep not because they are physically unable to sleep, but because of behavioral factors that may partly be within their control.
