Episode 132: Emotional Willpower (with David DeSteno)

What's the best way to build self-control, patience, productivity, and delayed marshmallow eating? For decades psychologists and economists have told us to develop traits like willpower and grit. But psychologist David DeSteno describes a better, easier, and more effective path--the emotions. We talk to David about his new (not-self-help) book "Emotional Success," which argues that the emotions of gratitude, pride, and compassion can help us fulfill long-term goals and (as a special bonus) make us happier and better people. Plus, David and Tamler take a quiz that measures how utilitarian they are, and you won't believe the results!!! (Actually, you will.) This episode is sponsored by Casper. Visit www.casper.com and enter offer code BADWIZARDS to get $50 toward select purchases. Special Guest: Dave DeSteno. Sponsored By: Casper Promo Code: BADWIZARDS Support Very Bad Wizards Links: How Utilitarian Are You? The Oxford Utilitarianism Scale | Practical Ethics Everett, J. A., Pizarro, D. A., Crockett, M. J. (2016). Inference of trustworthiness from intuitive moral judgments. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 145, 772–787 David DeSteno's website Emotional Success: The Power of Gratitude, Compassion, and Pride