Most authors who discuss willpower assume that everyone knows what it is, but our assumptions differ to such an extent that we talk past each other. We agree that willpower is the psychological function that resists temptations – variously known as impulses, addictions, or bad habits; that it operates simultaneously with temptations, without prior commitment; and that use of it is limited by its cost, commonly called effort, as well as by the person's skill at executive functioning. However, accounts are usually not clear about how motivation functions during the application of willpower, or how motivation is related to effort. Some accounts depict willpower as the perceiving or formation of motivational contingencies that outweigh the temptation, and some depict it as a continuous use of mechanisms that interfere with re-weighing the temptation. Some others now suggest that impulse control can bypass motivation altogether, although they refer to this route as habit rather than willpower. It is argued here that willpower should be recognized as either or both of two distinct functions, which can be called resolve and suppression. Resolve is based on interpretation of a current choice as a test case for a broader set of future choices, which puts at stake more than the outcome of the current choice. Suppression is inhibiting valuation of (modulating) and/or keeping attention from (filtering) immediate alternatives to a current intention. Perception of current choices as test cases for broader outcomes may result in reliable preference for these outcomes, which is experienced as an effortless habit – a successful result of resolve, not an alternative method of self-control. Some possible brain imaging correlates are reviewed.

中文翻译：

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有努力和无努力的意志力

大多数讨论意志力的作者都假设每个人都知道它是什么，但我们的假设差异如此之大，以至于我们互相说不出来。我们一致认为，意志力是抵抗诱惑的心理功能——诱惑、成瘾或坏习惯等。它与诱惑同时运作，无需事先承诺；它的使用受到其成本（通常称为努力）以及人执行功能的技能的限制。然而，人们通常不清楚动机在意志力的应用过程中如何发挥作用，或者动机与努力之间的关系。一些说法将意志力描述为对超越诱惑的动机偶发事件的感知或形成，而另一些说法则将其描述为持续使用干扰重新权衡诱惑的机制。其他一些人现在认为冲动控制可以完全绕过动机，尽管他们将这条路线称为习惯而不是意志力。这里认为，意志力应该被认为是两个不同功能中的一个或两个，可以称为解决和抑制。Resolve 基于将当前选择解释为更广泛的未来选择的测试用例，这比当前选择的结果更重要。抑制正在抑制（调制的）和/或保持注意力（过滤）当前意图的直接替代方案。将当前选择视为更广泛结果的测试用例可能会导致对这些结果的可靠偏好，这被认为是一种轻松的体验习惯– 决心的成功结果，而不是自我控制的替代方法。回顾了一些可能的脑成像相关性。