The Science of Willpower

(PSY 205)

Physical health, emotional well-being, social relationships, and professional success all require the ability to regulate our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Advances in psychology, neuroscience, medicine, and mind-body research are beginning to paint a new picture of what willpower is, why it matters, and how to develop it.

Is willpower in the mind or in the body? Is it possible to run out of willpower, and how do you build a bigger reserve? What motivates people to change? Why do we talk ourselves out of things we really want or need to do? How much control over our thoughts and feelings do we really have, and what are the healthiest ways to regulate them?

This course will address these questions through lectures, readings, and discussion, and give students the opportunity to apply the ideas of the course to making an important change or pursuing a major goal in their lives.

Kelly McGonigal, Lecturer in Continuing Studies

Kelly McGonigal received a PhD in psychology from Stanford. Her research and teaching focus on the connections among stress, emotions, social relationships, and physical health. She teaches in the School of Medicine’s Health Improvement Program, presents stress-reduction workshops nationally, and provides continuing education about the mind-body relationship to mental health and medical professionals. She has received numerous teaching awards, including the Walter J. Gores Award, Stanford’s highest teaching honor. She is author of Yoga for Pain Relief: Simple Practices to Calm Your Mind and Heal Your Pain.