BASIC AND APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY. 28(1). 1-16 Copyright 0 2006. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Inc. Improved Self-Control: The Benefits of a Regular Program of Academic Study Megan Oaten and Ken Cheng Macquarie University, Sydney Academic examination stress impairs regulatory behavior by consuming self-control strength (Oaten & Chang, 2005). In this study, we tested whether a study intervention program. a form of repeated practice of self-control, could improve regulatory strength and dampen the debili- tating effects of exam stress. We assessed 2 cohorts at baseline and again at the commencement of exams. Without any intervention, we replicated our previous findings of deteriorations in regulatory behaviors at exam time. Students receiving the study program, however, showed sig- nificant improvement in self-regulatory capacity as shown by an enhanced performance on a visual tracking task following a thought-suppression task. During examinations, these partici- pants also reported significant decreases in smoking, alcohol. and caffeine consumption and an increase in healthy eating, emotional control. maintenance of household chores, attendance to commitments, monitoring of spending, and an improvement in study habits. Hence, the study program not only overcame deficits caused by exam stress but actually led to improvements in self-control even during exam time. Self-regulation or self-control (terms used interchangeably here) can be defined as the capacity to enact control over one's behavior. Self-control is needed to override dominant behaviors that may be self-destructive, irrational, or undesir- able in the long term. Examples of typical self-control prob- lems include not exercising enough, engaging in unsafe sex- ual practices, abusing drugs and alcohol, overspending, and not sticking to study schedules. Our goals in this study were to (a) replicate the finding that real world stress, specifically academic examinations, consume self-con