Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis.

2010 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin S. Hagger ◽  
Chantelle Wood ◽  
Chris Stiff ◽  
Nikos L. D. Chatzisarantis
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Strength Model

scholarly journals Emotional, Cognitive and Self-Enhancement Processes in Aggressive Behavior After Interpersonal Rejection and Exclusion

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 707-721 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Rajchert
Keyword(s):  
Aggressive Behavior ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Strength Model ◽  
Displaced Aggression ◽  
Cognitive Readiness ◽  
Interpersonal Rejection ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Exclusion Effect

The relationship between exclusion or rejection and aggression is already well documented, but there is still a debate about the mechanisms that underlie this effect. In two studies we focused on the propensity to react aggressively (readiness for aggression) on the bases of emotional, cognitive or self-enhancement (personality-immanent) processes. In both studies we first measured readiness for aggression and then ego-depleted participants. Next, in Study 1 we excluded participants (n = 96) using an online ball throwing game and measured displaced aggressive behavior - intensity and duration of an unpleasant noise administrated to a stranger. In Study 2 participants (n = 140) were rejected by a peer on the basis of an interview that they gave and then could retaliate by reducing peer's chance for getting a job. The results show that exclusion effect on displaced aggression was moderated by cognitive readiness for aggression, while rejection effect on retaliatory aggression was shaped by emotional and personality-immanent readiness for aggression as well as ego-depletion. The results were discussed in light of the strength model of self-control by Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice (2007).

scholarly journals Bored Into Depletion? Toward a Tentative Integration of Perceived Self-Control Exertion and Boredom as Guiding Signals for Goal-Directed Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 1272-1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanja Wolff ◽  
Corinna S. Martarelli
Keyword(s):  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Strength Model ◽  
Control Performance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Societal Relevance ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Control Research ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

During the past two decades, self-control research has been dominated by the strength model of self-control, which is built on the premise that the capacity for self-control is a limited global resource that can become temporarily depleted, resulting in a state called ego depletion. The foundations of ego depletion have recently been questioned. Thus, although self-control is among the most researched psychological concepts with high societal relevance, an inconsistent body of literature limits our understanding of how self-control operates. Here, we propose that the inconsistencies are partly due to a confound that has unknowingly and systematically been introduced into the ego-depletion research: boredom. We propose that boredom might affect results of self-control research by placing an unwanted demand on self-control and signaling that one should explore behavioral alternatives. To account for boredom in self-controlled behavior, we provide a working model that integrates evidence from reward-based models of self-control and recent theorizing on boredom to explain the effects of both self-control exertion and boredom on subsequent self-control performance. We propose that task-induced boredom should be systematically monitored in self-control research to assess the validity of the ego-depletion effect.

Who Believes in Nonlimited Willpower? In Search of Correlates of Implicit Theories of Self-Control

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-299
Author(s):  
Jan Jędrzejczyk ◽  
Marcin Zajenkowski
Keyword(s):  
Time Perspective ◽  
Implicit Theories ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Emotional Stability ◽  
Future Time Perspective ◽  
Mental Activity ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Strength Model ◽  
Domain Specific

Recently, the most prominent model of self-control, the strength model, was criticized, and other explanations of self-control have been proposed. One of them is a concept of lay, implicit, willpower theories, that is, believing either that willpower is limited (as in the strength model) or nonlimited. Research shows that holding a nonlimited-resource belief prevents individuals from suffering ego depletion and is related to successful self-regulation. The current study explored how personality, time perspective, and intelligence predict willpower theories. Additionally, two aspects of willpower theories, strenuous mental activity and resistance to temptations, were measured separately. The results indicated that the two aspects of willpower theories were not correlated with each other. This supports hypothesis that willpower theories may be domain specific and also suggests that these two aspects should not be aggregated into one, homogenous scale as was done in some previous research. Both aspects of holding a nonlimited-resource theory were related positively to emotional stability and negatively to past negative time perspective. Strenuous mental activity was positively associated with intellect and negatively with present fatalism, whereas resistance to temptations was correlated positively with conscientiousness and future time perspective. There were no relations between willpower theories and intelligence, which posits that similar life outcomes related with these two attributes are based on distinct mechanisms. Regression analyses revealed that only personality traits (emotional stability and conscientiousness) remained significant predictors of willpower beliefs.

scholarly journals Do people avoid mental effort after facing a highly demanding task?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolin Gieseler ◽  
Michael Inzlicht ◽  
Malte Friese
Keyword(s):  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Mental Effort ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Effort Choice

Ego depletion effects are usually examined in a sequential task paradigm in which exerting mental effort in a first task is thought to affect performance on a subsequent self-control task. A so-called ego depletion effect is observed if performance on the second task is impaired for the high demand relative to the low demand group. The present studies take a different approach. Instead of measuring performance in the second task that is equally difficult for all participants, the present studies investigated effects of effortful exertion on the choice to willingly exert effort on a subsequent task. Three pre-registered studies investigated if participants select less effort demanding math problems for upcoming tasks compared to a control group after exerting mental effort in an initial task. Results were mixed. Study 1 (N = 86) revealed no significant effect of mental effort exertion on mean choice difficulty. In Study 2 (N = 269), the expected effect emerged in an exploratory analysis when controlling for math self-assessment, which was robustly associated with the choice measure. Study 3 (N = 330) descriptively, albeit non-significantly replicated this result. An internal random-effects meta-analysis revealed a small overall effect of g = 0.18 when accounting for math self-assessment, albeit with large heterogeneity. Exploratory analyses point to the importance of the subjective experience of mental effort in effort-selection paradigms. We discuss the implications of the small overall effect size for future research and the possibility to examine effort choice in everyday life.

scholarly journals Reconceptualizing Ego Depletion as Transient Cognitive Fatigue

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Joseph Hurley
Keyword(s):  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Strength Model ◽  
Cognitive Fatigue ◽  
Depletion Effect

Ego depletion is embroiled in a crisis that has cast doubts over the legitimacy of the phenomenon itself and its theoretical explanation. I first summarize and analyze the strength model of self- control as cohesive theoretical explanations of the phenomenon and highlight the difficulties it creates for depletion researchers. I conclude that the strength model is not the best theoretical explanation for the depletion phenomenon. Rather, I propose reconceptualizing the ego depletion effect as transient cognitive fatigue (TCF). To support this theoretical shift, I highlight how both the classic and disparate findings in the depletion literature cleanly map into the literature on cognitive fatigue, and how considering depletion to be TCF accommodates existing theoretical alternatives to the strength model.

scholarly journals Bored into depletion? Towards a tentative integration of perceived self-control exertion and boredom as guiding signals for goal-directed behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wanja Wolff ◽  
Corinna Martarelli
Keyword(s):  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Strength Model ◽  
Control Performance ◽  
The Past ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Societal Relevance ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Control Research ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior

During the past two decades, self-control research has been dominated by the strength model of self-control which is built on the premise that the capacity for self-control is a limited global resource that can become temporarily depleted, resulting in a state called ego depletion. The foundations of ego depletion have recently been questioned. Thus, although self-control is among the most researched psychological concepts with high societal relevance, an inconsistent body of literature limits our understanding of how self-control operates. Here, we propose that the inconsistencies are partly due to a confound that has unknowingly and systematically been introduced into ego depletion research: Boredom. We propose that boredom might affect results of self-control research by 1) placing an unwanted self-control demand, and 2) signaling that one should explore behavioral alternatives. To account for boredom in self-controlled behavior, we provide a working model that integrates evidence from reward-based models of self-control and recent theorizing on boredom to explain effects of both self-control exertion and boredom on subsequent self-control performance. We propose that task-induced boredom should be systematically monitored in self-control research to assess the validity of the ego depletion effect.

scholarly journals A pre-registered test of competing theories to explain ego depletion effects using psychophysiological indicators of mental effort

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karolin Gieseler ◽  
David D. Loschelder ◽  
Veronika Job ◽  
Malte Friese
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Mental Effort ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Unexpected Finding ◽  
Strength Model ◽  
Control Performance ◽  
Competing Models

A prominent, hotly debated idea—the ‘ego depletion’ phenomenon—suggests that engaging in effortful, demanding tasks leads to poorer subsequent self-control performance. Several theories seek to explain the emergence of ego depletion effects. The two most prominent ones are the strength model of self-control (Baumeister & Vohs, 2016) and the process model of self-control (Inzlicht & Schmeichel, 2012). Predictions of these models are predominantly identical on the behavioral level. The models’ predictions differ, however, on the level of invested mental effort. The present pre-registered study (N = 179) contrasted these competing predictions combining an established moderator counteracting ego depletion effects (i.e., self-affirmation) and psychophysiological indicators of mental effort (i.e., systolic blood pressure and pre-ejection period). Our data provide moderate evidence for ego-depletion—decrements in self-control performance after a high- versus low-demanding task in the non-affirmed conditions. Self-affirmation had an unexpected effect: Contrary to previous research, self-affirmed participants performed similarly poorly as participants in the high demand+non-affirmed condition. Although this unexpected finding limited the ability to contrast competing model predictions, it points to hitherto unknown effects of self-affirmation on self-control performance. Systolic blood pressure reactivity emerged as a valid indicator of invested mental effort, but the data show no sign of disengagement after a high demanding task predicted by the process (but not the strength) model. We explore systolic blood pressure progression across the sequential task paradigm, suggest a testable account for the effects of self-affirmation on self-control performance, and discuss theoretical implications of the results for the two competing models.

scholarly journals Ego Depletion Reduces Attention Control: Evidence from Two High-Powered Preregistered Experiments

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katie Garrison ◽  
Anna J Finley ◽  
Brandon Schmeichel
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Ego Depletion ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Large Samples ◽  
Depletion Effect ◽  
Stroop Tasks ◽  
Writing Task

Two preregistered experiments with over 1000 participants in total found evidence of an ego depletion effect on attention control. Participants who exercised self-control on a writing task went on to make more errors on Stroop tasks (Experiment 1) and the Attention Network Test (Experiment 2) compared to participants who did not exercise self-control on the initial writing task. The depletion effect on response times was non-significant. A mini meta-analysis of the two experiments found a small (d = 0.20) but significant increase in error rates in the controlled writing condition, thereby providing evidence of poorer attention control under ego depletion. These results, which emerged from preregistered experiments in large samples of participants, represent some of the most rigorous evidence yet of the ego depletion effect.

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