Regulatory Mode Theory is an important part of Higgins’s self-regulation theory system; it holds that self-regulation involves two independent regulatory modes: locomotion mode and assessment mode, locomotion concerns to change the present state, while assessment concerns to get the perfect solution. Based on the characteristics of locomotion and assessment, the paper introduces the measurement of chronic regulatory mode and the activation of situational regulatory mode, and concludes the effect of regulatory mode on basic psychological phenomenon (e.g. motivation/cognitive) and special psychological phenomenon (e.g. inter-temporal choice/ regulatory depletion), as well as the fit effect based on regulatory mode. Future researches could pay attention to the development of regulatory mode, the multiple methods of measurement and activation of regulatory mode, and the effect on the special psychological phenomenon such as counterfactual thinking.