Skip to main content
Search
Search
    Quick Search anywhere
    Quick search in Citations
Advanced Search
Skip main navigationClose Drawer MenuOpen Drawer Menu
Previous article
Next article
Original Article

The Limits of Ego Depletion

A Crossover Study on the Robustness of Performance Deterioration in Consecutive Tasks

Published Online:November 05, 2019https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000365

Abstract

Abstract. Evidence on the existence of the ego depletion phenomena as well as the size of the effects and potential moderators and mediators are ambiguous. Building on a crossover design that enables superior statistical power within a single study, we investigated the robustness of the ego depletion effect between and within subjects and moderating and mediating influences of the ego depletion manipulation checks. Our results, based on a sample of 187 participants, demonstrated that (a) the between- and within-subject ego depletion effects only had negligible effect sizes and that there was (b) large interindividual variability that (c) could not be explained by differences in ego depletion manipulation checks. We discuss the implications of these results and outline a future research agenda.

References

  • Alberts, H. J. E. M., Martijn, C., & de Vries, N. K. (2011). Fighting self-control failure: Overcoming ego depletion by increasing self-awareness. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 58–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2010.08.004 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Arber, M. M., Ireland, M. J., Feger, R., Marrington, J., Tehan, J., & Tehan, G. (2017). Ego depletion in real-time: an examination of the sequential-task paradigm. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1672. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01672 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baayen, R. H., & Milin, P. (2010). Analyzing reaction times. International Journal of Psychological Research, 3, 12–28. https://doi.org/10.21500/20112084.807 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252–1265. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616652878 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baumeister, R. F., & Vohs, K. D. (2016). Misguided effort with elusive implications. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 574–575. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01639 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Baumeister, R. F., Vohs, K. D., & Tice, D. M. (2007). The strength model of self-control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 351–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00534.x First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bertrams, A., Unger, A., & Dickhäuser, O. (2011). Momentan verfügbare Selbstkontrollkraft – Vorstellung eines Messinstruments und erste Befunde aus pädagogisch-psychologischen Kontexten [Momentarily available self-control strength – Introduction of a measure and first findings from educational-psychological contexts]. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 25, 185–196. https://doi.org/10.1024/1010-0652/a000042 First citation in articleLink, Google Scholar

  • Boksem, M. A. S., & Tops, M. (2008). Mental fatigue: Costs and benefits. Brain Research Reviews, 59, 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainresrev.2008.07.001 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Bush, G., Shin, L. M., Holmes, J., Rosen, B. R., & Vogt, B. A. (2003). The Multi-Source Interference Task: Validation study with fMRI in individual subjects. Molecular Psychiatry, 8, 60–70. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4001217 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carter, E. C., Kofler, L. M., Forster, D. E., & McCullough, M. E. (2015). A series of meta-analytic tests of the depletion effect: Self-control does not seem to rely on a limited resource. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 144, 796–815. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000083 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carter, E. C., & McCullough, M. E. (2013). Publication bias and the limited strength model of self-control: has the evidence for ego depletion been overestimated? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 36, 683–684. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X12003196 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Carter, E. C., & McCullough, M. E. (2014). Publication bias and the limited strength model of self-control: has the evidence for ego depletion been overestimated? Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 823. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00823 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Chow, J. T., Hui, C. M., & Lau, S. (2015). A depleted mind feels inefficacious: Ego-depletion reduces self-efficacy to exert further self-control. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45, 754–768. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2120 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Ciarocco, N. J., Twenge, J. M., Muraven, M., & Tice, D. M. (2004). Measuring state self-control: Reliability, validity, and correlations with physical and psychological stress (Unpublished). Monmouth University, Monmouth, NJ. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Cohen, P., Cohen, J., Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1999). The problems of units and the circumstance for POMP. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 34, 315–346. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327906MBR3403_2 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Converse, P. D., & DeShon, R. P. (2009). A tale of two tasks: Reversing the self-regulatory resource depletion effect. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1318–1324. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014604 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Cunningham, M. R., & Baumeister, R. F. (2016). How to make nothing out of something: Analyses of the impact of study sampling and statistical interpretation in misleading meta-analytic conclusions. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1639. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01639 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Dang, J. (2017). Commentary: A multilab preregistered replication of the ego-depletion effect. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1155. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01155 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Dang, J., Dewitte, S., Mao, L., Xiao, S., & Shi, Y. (2013). Adapting to an initial self-regulatory task cancels the ego depletion effect. Consciousness and Cognition, 22, 816–821. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.05.005 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • De Houwer, J. (2011). Why the cognitive approach in psychology would profit from a functional approach and vice versa. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6, 202–209. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Eisenberger, R. (1992). Learned industriousness. Psychological Review, 99, 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.99.2.248 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Fishbach, A., Zhang, Y., & Trope, Y. (2010). Counteractive evaluation: Asymmetric shifts in the implicit value of conflicting motivations. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 29–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2009.09.008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Friese, M., Loschelder, D. D., Gieseler, K., Frankenbach, J., & Inzlicht, M. (in press). Is ego depletion real? An analysis of arguments. Personality and Social Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868318762183 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Friese, M., Messner, C., & Schaffner, Y. (2012). Mindfulness meditation counteracts self-control depletion. Consciousness and Cognition, 21, 1016–1022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2012.01.008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Gergelyfi, M., Jacob, B., Olivier, E., & Zénon, A. (2015). Dissociation between mental fatigue and motivational state during prolonged mental activity. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 9, 176. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00176 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hagger, M. S., Chatzisarantis, N. L. D., Alberts, H., Anggono, C. O., Birt, A., Brand, R., Rentzsch, K., … Zweinenberg, M. (2016). A multi-lab pre-registered replication of the ego-depletion effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 546–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616652873 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hagger, M. S., Wood, C., Stiff, C., & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2010). Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 496–525. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019486 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modelling, 6, 1–55. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Imhoff, R., Schmidt, A. F., & Gerstenberg, F. (2014). Exploring the interplay of trait self-control and ego depletion: Empirical evidence for ironic effects. European Journal of Personality, 28, 413–424. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1899 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Inzlicht, M., Gervais, W., & Berkman, E. (2015). Bias-correction techniques alone cannot determine whether ego depletion is different from zero: Commentary on Carter, Kofler, Forster, & McCullough, 2015. Retrieved from SSRN http://ssrn.com/abstract=2659409 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2659409 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Inzlicht, M., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2012). What is ego depletion? Toward a mechanistic revision of the resource model of self-control. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 450–463. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691612454134 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Job, V., Bernecker, K., Miketta, S., & Friese, M. (2015). Implicit theories about willpower predict the activation of a rest goal following self-control exertion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109, 694–706. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000042 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Job, V., Dweck, C. S., & Walton, G. M. (2010). Ego depletion: Is it all in your head? Implicit theories about willpower affect self-regulation. Psychological Science, 21, 1686–1693. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610384745 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Judd, C. M., Westfall, J., & Kenny, D. A. (2012). Treating stimuli as a random factor in social psychology: A new and comprehensive solution to a pervasive but largely ignored problem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 54–69. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028347 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Judd, C. M., Westfall, J., & Kenny, D. A. (2017). Experiments with more than one random factor: Designs, analytic models, and statistical power. Annual Review of Psychology, 68, 601–625. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122414-033702 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Krause, M. S., & Howard, K. I. (2003). What random assignment does and does not do. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 59, 751–766. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.10170 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lakens, D. (2014). Performing high-powered studies efficiently with sequential analyses: Sequential analyses. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44, 701–710. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2023 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lakens, D. (2017). Equivalence tests: A practical primer for t tests, correlations, and meta-analyses. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 355–362. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lange, F., & Eggert, F. (2014). Sweet delusion. Glucose drinks fail to counteract ego depletion. Appetite, 75, 54–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2013.12.020 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lo, S., & Andrews, S. (2015). To transform or not to transform: using generalized linear mixed models to analyse reaction time data. Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 1171. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01171 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Lorist, M. M., & Jolij, J. (2012). Trial history effects in Stroop task performance are independent of top-down control. PLoS One, 7, e39802. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0039802 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Moreno, S. G., Sutton, A. J., Turner, E. H., Abrams, K. R., Cooper, N. J., Palmer, T. M., & Ades, a. E. (2009). Novel methods to deal with publication biases: Secondary analysis of antidepressant trials in the FDA trial registry database and related journal publications. British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.), 339, b2981. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2981 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Muraven, M., & Slessareva, E. (2003). Mechanisms of self-control failure: Motivation and limited resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 894–906. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203029007008 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Neal, D. T., Wood, W., & Drolet, A. (2013). How do people adhere to goals when willpower is low? The profits (and pitfalls) of strong habits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104, 959–975. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032626 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Olejnik, S., & Algina, J. (2003). Generalized eta and omega squared statistics: Measures of effect size for some common research designs. Psychological Methods, 8, 434–447. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.8.4.434 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Savani, K., & Job, V. (2017). Reverse ego-depletion: Acts of self-control can improve subsequent performance in Indian cultural contexts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113, 589–607. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Selya, A. S., Rose, J. S., Dierker, L. C., Hedeker, D., & Mermelstein, R. J. (2012). A practical guide to calculating Cohen’s f2, a measure of local effect size, from PROC MIXED. Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 111. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shamosh, N., & Gray, J. (2007). The relation between fluid intelligence and self-regulatory depletion. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 1833–1843. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699930701273658 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Shrout, P. E., & Lane, S. P. (2012). Psychometrics. In M. R. MehlT. S. ConnerEds., Handbook of research methods for studying daily life (pp. 302–321). New York, NY: Guilford Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Simonsohn, U., Nelson, L. D., & Simmons, J. P. (2014). P-curve: A key to the file-drawer. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143, 534–547. First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Sripada, C., Kessler, D., & Jonides, J. (2014). Methylphenidate blocks effort-induced depletion of regulatory control in healthy volunteers. Psychological Science, 22, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614526415 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Sripada, C., Kessler, D., & Jonides, J. (2016). Sifting signal from noise with replication science. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 11, 576–578. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691616652875 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Stanley, T. D. (2017). Limitations of PET-PEESE and other meta-analysis methods. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 581–591. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617693062 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Steyer, R., Schwenkmezger, P., Notz, P., & Eid, M. (1997). Der Mehrdimensionale Befindlichkeitsfragebogen (MDMQ) [The multidimensional mood questionnaire – Manual]. Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Vohs, K. D., Baumeister, R. F., & Schmeichel, B. J. (2013). Erratum to “Motivation, personal beliefs, and limited resources all contribute to self-control”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 184–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2012.08.007 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wan, E. W., & Sternthal, B. (2008). Regulating the effects of depletion through resource monitoring. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 47–60. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207306756 First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Wenzel, M., Conner, T. S., & Kubiak, T. (2013). Understanding the limits of self-control: Positive affect moderates the impact of task switching on consecutive self-control performance. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 175–184. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.1936 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wenzel, M., Kubiak, T., & Conner, T. S. (2014). Positive affect and self-control: Attention to self-control demands mediates the influence of positive affect on consecutive self-control. Cognition and Emotion, 28, 747–755. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2013.851069 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Wenzel, M., Zahn, D., Rowland, Z., & Kubiak, T. (2016). The benefits of self-set goals: Is ego depletion really a result of self-control failure? PLoS One, 11, e0157009. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0157009 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar

  • Xu, X., Demos, K. E., Leahey, T. M., Hart, C. N., Trautvetter, J., Coward, P., … Wing, R. R. (2014). Failure to replicate depletion of self-control. PLoS One, 9, e109950. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0109950 First citation in articleCrossref, Google Scholar