ABSTRACT

This chapter provides an overview of how Experience Sampling Method (ESM) can be applied to the assessment of self–control, with a particular focus on the use of smartphones in ESM research. It explores ESM and various sampling strategies that can be applied within the method and considers measures and methodological issues of ESM and compares different technological approaches of experience sampling. The chapter presents a report on studies that have used ESM to study the interplay of self-control, health, and well-being. It also presents studies that have combined ESM with additional longitudinal designs to analyze long-term change in well-being and health behavior. In combining experience sampling data with additional longitudinal designs, it is also possible to predict long-term changes in health behavior, well-being, or other variables from the snapshot of behaviors assessed during the ESM phase. The chapter shows that ESM holds considerable promise for advancing understanding of the complex interplay of self-control, health, and well-being in everyday life.