Self-control—for example, the ability to override immediate impulses in service of longer-term goals—is an important topic, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Using the Clarion cognitive architecture, this paper presents computational models of how temporal context affects self-regulatory processes. We compare two interpretations of self-control: as a conflict between explicit and implicit attitudes and as a competition between immediate desires and higher-order goals. Both models successfully reproduce experimental findings. The simulations demonstrate that self-control processes can be adaptively engaged. Within a unified cognitive architecture, by integrating both explicit-implicit conflicts and desire-goal competitions, this work advances a more cohesive understanding of self-control that bridges empirical phenomena and abstract theories, revealing how self-regulation emerges from interactions among general cognitive and motivational processes.