%0 Report
        %A Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.
%A Lepinteur, Anthony
%A Menta, Giorgia
        %T The Stability of Self-Control in Unstable Times
        %D 2025
        %8 2025 Nov
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18270
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18270
        %X This paper examines the stability of self-control over time using nationally-representative longitudinal data from Australia. We track the same individuals between 2019 and 2023, a period encompassing one of the most disruptive global crisis in recent history: the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these extraordinary circumstances, self-control remained remarkably stable: its mean and distribution were unchanged, and individuals largely preserved their relative positions. Within-person changes were small, and unrelated to variations in state-level exposure to both the spread of the virus and the policy responses that ensued. The evidence we report suggests that self-control is a deeply rooted, trait-like characteristic that persists even under extreme societal stress.
        %K stability
%K HILDA
%K self-control
%K COVID-19