Willpower alone may not be enough to conquer those extra pounds, addictive habits and other vices we struggle with every day, according to a recent feature story in Stanford Medicine Magazine. And this is not necessarily under our control.

The editors of the magazine decided that the rising obesity rates and prevalence of illnesses nationwide from seemingly preventable bad habits warranted a more in-depth look at why people don’t always do what is good for them.

The results of their studies revealed a recent shift in the thinking among health-behavior researchers, including many Stanford experts, who concluded that willpower is not always enough in the long run.

According to the article, emotional triggers are often too great to combat problems using sheer willpower.

“In many disciplines — medicine, economics — scientists have ignored a huge aspect of what it means to be human: the emotional aspect,” noted Assoc. Psychology Prof. James Gross in the magazine article.

Along with emotional effects on our brain chemistry, environment can have an impact on decision-making in a way that is too powerful for willpower to combat. Examples cited in the article include environments that readily provide alcohol, discourage adequate sleep and encourage poor nutrition, such as college campuses.

According to clinical psychologist Cynthia Castro, a researcher at the Stanford Prevention Research Center (SPRC), it is not the experts that need convincing, but everyday people for whom chronic bad habits affect health.

“Most behavior scientists don’t give a lot of credit to willpower as the key to changing health habits,” she said. “There are a variety of forces that compel us to act the way we do. Stanford student or not, this applies to each of us.”

“It is important to have drive and determination to accomplish things,” she added, “but it’s equally important to realize that you need to learn some new skills along the way.”

A quick survey of Stanford students showed a diverse range of thinking about willpower and whether it indeed has limits.

Janise On ‘11 was not surprised to hear that willpower alone cannot overpower all problems.

“I think people have willpower to a certain extent,” she said, “but I also feel there are a lot of times you tell yourself to do things and continually do something else, and you wonder why.”

Her roommate, Effie Fine ‘11, added that many problems require support and encouragement from peers to combat and should not have to be faced alone.

Riddhi Mittal ‘11 had a different opinion.

“The only thing you ever need is willpower to get what you want,” she said. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

For those who are convinced they need more than willpower to tackle some of their most difficult struggles, Castro, who has done behavioral research on adults, offered some practical suggestions for students to consider.

Castro found that success in changing chronic habits comes from a variety of methods besides sheer willpower, including realistic goal setting, anticipating obstacles, getting social support and, perhaps most importantly, challenging irrationally negative thoughts. Some of these methods require the help of professionals, and some imply a need for environmental change.

“It would be a great idea to get some of the Vaden staff together with some of us researchers at the SPRC to come up with feasible ideas to create a healthier campus environment and teach students some of the key personal skills for healthier living,” Castro said.

The article was not meant to discredit willpower entirely, however.

For the article, Gross asked students to complete math problems in the presence of loud, funny skits playing on a monitor. The students performed better when told to think of the math exercise as a challenge to their willpower, he said.

“If we think of temptations such as candy bars as tests of our willpower, then we see these temptations in a whole new light, and are much better able to stick to our guns,” he said.

To view the article that appeared in Stanford Medicine Magazine, see http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2007fall/main.html.