Ego Depletion Is the Active Self a Limited Resource.docx
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Ego Depletion Is the Active Self a Limited Resource.docx
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EgoDepletionIstheActiveSelfaLimitedResource
EgoDepletion:
IstheActiveSelfaLimitedResource?
Abstract
Choice,activeresponse,self-regulation,andothervolitionmayalldrawonacommoninnerresource.InExperiment1,peoplewhoforcedthemselvestoeatradishesinsteadoftemptingchocolatessubsequentlyquitfasteronunsolvablepuzzlesthanpeoplewhohadnothadtoexertself-controlovereating.InExperiment2,makingameaningfulpersonalchoicetoperformattitude-relevantbehaviorcausedasimilardecrementinpersistence.InExperiment3,suppressingemotionledtoasubsequentdropinperformanceofsolvableanagrams.InExperiment4,aninitialtaskrequiringhighself-regulationmadepeoplemorepassive(i.e.,morepronetofavorthepassive-responseoption).Theseresultssuggestthattheself'scapacityforactivevolitionislimitedandthatarangeofseeminglydifferent,unrelatedactsshareacommonresource.
Manycrucialfunctionsoftheselfinvolvevolition:
makingchoicesanddecisions,takingresponsibility,initiatingandinhibitingbehavior,andmakingplansofactionandcarryingoutthoseplans.Theselfexertscontroloveritselfandovertheexternalworld.Tobesure,notallhumanbehaviorinvolvesplanfulordeliberatecontrolbytheself,and,infact,recentworkhasshownthatagreatdealofhumanbehaviorisinfluencedbyautomaticornonconsciousprocesses(seeBargh,1994,1997).Butundoubtedlysomeportioninvolvesdeliberate,conscious,controlledresponsesbytheself,andthatportionmaybedisproportionatelyimportanttothelong-termhealth,happiness,andsuccessoftheindividual.Evenifitwereshownthat95%ofbehaviorconsistedoflawful,predictableresponsestosituationalstimulibyautomaticprocesses,psychologycouldnotaffordtoignoretheremaining5%.Asananalogy,carsareprobablydrivenstraightaheadatleast95%ofthetime,butignoringtheother5%(suchasbybuildingcarswithoutsteeringwheels)wouldseriouslycompromisethecar'sabilitytoreachmostdestinations.Bythesametoken,therelativelyfewactive,controllingchoicesbytheselfgreatlyincreasetheself'schancesofachievingitsgoals.Andifthosefew“steering”choicesbytheselfareimportant,thensoiswhateverinternalstructureoftheselfisresponsibleforit.
Inthepresentinvestigationwewereconcernedwiththiscontrollingaspectoftheself.Specifically,wetestedhypothesesofegodepletion,asawayoflearningabouttheself'sexecutivefunction.Thecoreideabehindegodepletionisthattheself'sactsofvolitiondrawonsomelimitedresource,akintostrengthorenergyandthat,therefore,oneactofvolitionwillhaveadetrimentalimpactonsubsequentvolition.Wesoughttoshowthatapreliminaryactofself-controlintheformofresistingtemptation(Experiment1)orapreliminaryactofchoiceandresponsibility(Experiment2)wouldundermineself-regulationinasubsequent,unrelateddomain,namelypersistenceatadifficultandfrustratingtask.Wethensoughttoverifythattheeffectsofegodepletionareindeedmaladaptiveanddetrimentaltoperformance(Experiment3).Last,weundertooktoshowthategodepletionresultingfromactsofself-controlwouldinterferewithsubsequentdecisionmakingbymakingpeoplemorepassive(Experiment4).
Ourresearchstrategywastolookateffectsthatwouldcarryoveracrosswidegapsofseemingirrelevance.Ifresistingthetemptationtoeatchocolatecanleaveapersonpronetogiveupfasteronadifficult,frustratingpuzzle,thatwouldsuggestthatthosetwoverydifferentactsofself-controldrawonthesamelimitedresource.Andifmakingachoiceaboutwhethertomakeaspeechcontrarytoone'sopinionsweretohavethesameeffect,itwouldsuggestthatthatverysameresourceisalsotheoneusedingeneralfordeliberate,responsibledecisionmaking.Thatresourcewouldpresumablybeoneofthemostimportantfeaturesoftheself.
ExecutiveFunction
Thetermagencyhasbeenusedbyvariouswriterstorefertotheself'sexertionofvolition,butthistermhasmisleadingconnotations:
Anagentisquintessentiallysomeonewhoactsonbehalfofsomeoneelse,whereasthephenomenonunderdiscussioninvolvestheselfactingautonomouslyonitsownbehalf.Thetermexecutivefunctionhasbeenusedinvariouscontextstorefertothisaspectofselfandhencemaybepreferable(e.g.,Epstein,1973;seeBaumeister,1998).Meanwhile,weusethetermegodepletiontorefertoatemporaryreductionintheself'scapacityorwillingnesstoengageinvolitionalaction(includingcontrollingtheenvironment,controllingtheself,makingchoices,andinitiatingaction)causedbypriorexerciseofvolition.
Thepsychologicaltheorythatvolitionisoneoftheself'scrucialfunctionscanbetracedbackatleasttoFreud(1923/1961a,1933/1961b),whodescribedtheegoasthepartofthepsychethatmustdealwiththerealityoftheexternalworldbymediatingbetweenconflictinginnerandouterpressures.Inhisscheme,forexample,aVictoriangentlemanstandingonthestreetmightfeelurgedbyhisidtoheadforthebrothelandbyhissuperegotogotochurch,butitisultimatelyleftuptohisegotostarthisfeetwalkinginonedirectionortheother.Freudalsoseemstohavebelievedthattheegoneededtousesomeenergyinmakingsuchadecision.
Recentresearchhasconvincinglyilluminatedtheself'snearlyrelentlessquestforcontrol(Brehm,1966;Burger,1989;DeCharms,1968;Deci&Ryan,1991,1995;Langer,1975;Rothbaum,Weisz,&Snyder,1982;Taylor,1983,1989;White,1959).Itisalsoknownthatwhentheselffeelshighlyresponsible(accountable)foritsactions,itscognitiveandbehavioralprocesseschange(Cooper&Scher,1994;Linder,Cooper,&Jones,1967;Tetlock,1983,1985;Tetlock&Boettger,1989).Activeresponsesalsohavemorepowerfuleffectsontheselfanditssubsequentresponsesthandopassiveones(Allison&Messick,1988;Cioffi&Garner,1996;Fazio,Sherman,&Herr,1982).Theprocessesbywhichtheselfmonitorsitselfinordertoapproachstandardsofdesiredbehaviorhavealsobeenstudied(Carver&Scheier,1981;Duval&Wicklund,1972;Wegner,1994;Wegner&Pennebaker,1993).Despitetheseefforts,itishardtodisputethatunderstandingoftheexecutivefunctionremainsfarmorevagueandrudimentarythanotheraspectsofself-theory.Researchersinvestigatingcognitiverepresentationsofselfhavemadeenormousprogressinrecentdecades(forreviews,seeBanaji&Prentice,1994;Fiske&Taylor,1991).Likewise,therehasbeenconsiderableprogressoninterpersonalaspectsofselfhood(e.g.,Leary,1995;Leary&Kowalski,1990;Schlenker,1980;Tesser,1988).Incomparison,understandingoftheself'sexecutivefunctionlagsbehindatafairlyprimitivelevel.
EgoDepletion
Thenotionthatvolitiondependsontheself'sexpenditureofsomelimitedresourcewasanticipatedbyFreud(1923/1961a,1933/1961b).Hethoughttheegoneededtohavesomeformofenergytoaccomplishitstasksandtoresisttheenergeticpromptingsofidandsuperego.Freudwasfondoftheanalogyofhorseandrider,becauseashesaidtherider(analogoustotheego)isgenerallyinchargeofsteeringbutissometimesunabletopreventthehorsefromgoingwhereitwantstogo.Freudwasrathervagueandinconsistentaboutwheretheego'senergycamefrom,butherecognizedtheconceptualvalueofpostulatingthattheegooperatedonanenergymodel.
Severalmodernresearchfindingssuggestthatsomeformofenergyorstrengthmaybeinvolvedinactsofvolition.Mostofthesehavebeenconcernedwithself-regulation.Indeed,Mischel(1996)hasrecentlyproposedthatthecolloquialnotionofwillpowerberevivedforself-regulationtheory,andaliteraturereviewbyBaumeister,Heatherton,andTice(1994)concludedthatmuchevidenceaboutself-regulatoryfailurefitsamodelofstrengthdepletion.
AnimportantearlystudybyGlass,Singer,andFriedman(1969)foundthatparticipantsexposedtounpredictablenoisestresssubsequentlyshoweddecrementsinfrustrationtolerance,asmeasuredbypersistenceonunsolvableproblems.1Glassetal.concludedthatadaptingtounpredictablestressinvolvesa“psychiccost,”whichimpliesanexpenditureordepletionofsomevaluableresource.Theyleftthenatureofthisresourcetofutureresearch,whichhasnotmademuchfurtherprogress.
AdditionalevidenceforastrengthmodelwasprovidedbyMuraven,Tice,andBaumeister(1998),whoseresearchstrategyinfluencedthepresentinvestigation.Muravenetal.soughttoshowthatconsecutiveexertionsofself-regulationwerecharacterizedbydeterioratingperformance,eventhoughtheexertionsinvolvedseeminglyunrelatedspheres.Inonestudy,theyshowedthattryingnottothinkaboutawhitebear(athought-controltaskborrowedfromWegner,1989;Wegner,Schneider,Carter,&White,1987)causedpeopletogiveupmorequicklyonasubsequentanagramtask.Inanotherstudy,anaffect-regulationexercisecausedsubsequentdecrementsinenduranceatsqueezingahandgrip.Thesefindingssuggestthatexertionsofself-controldocarryapsychiccostanddepletesomescarceresource.
Tointegratethesescatteredfindingsandimplications,wesuggestthefollowing.Oneimportantpartoftheselfisalimitedresourcethatisusedforallactsofvolition,suchascontrolled(asopposedtoautomatic)processing,active(asopposedtopassive)choice,initiatingbehavior,andoverridingresponses.Becausemuchofself-regulationinvolvesresistingtemptationandhenceoverridingmotivatedresponses,thisself-resourcemustbeabletoaffectbehaviorinthesamefashionthatmotivationdoes.Motivationscanbestrongorweak,andstrongerimpulsesarepresumabl
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