Saying No to Tattoos and Yes to Safe Sex: Ego-Depletion May Help Boost Self- Regulation

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.

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Exploring the Interplay of Trait Self–Control and Ego Depletion: Empirical Evidence for Ironic Effects

European Journal of Personality ◽

10.1002/per.1899 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 28 (5) ◽

pp. 413-424 ◽

Cited By ~ 54

Author(s):

Roland Imhoff ◽

Alexander F. Schmidt ◽

Friederike Gerstenberg

Keyword(s):

Achievement Motivation ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Ego Depletion ◽

Self Control ◽

Personality Psychology ◽

Total N ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Behaviour Study ◽

Low Self Control ◽

Ironic Effects

Trait self–control (TSC) has been conceptualized as a general and abstract ability to exert self–regulation across multiple domains that has mostly beneficial effects. However, its relationship to situational depletion of self–regulatory resources has received little attention. We systematically explore the interplay of trait and situational self–control in two studies (total N = 264). In contrast with a positive view of TSC, the results show greater ego depletion effects for high (vs. low) self–control abilities across such diverse domains as candy consumption (Study 1), risk–taking behaviour (Study 2) and achievement motivation (Study 2). It is proposed that these ironic effects are attributable to high–TSC individuals’ less frequent active inhibition of impulses in everyday life and their resulting lack of experience in resisting acute temptations. A third study (N> = 358) corroborated this general reasoning by showing that TSC is indeed associated with less frequent impulse inhibition in daily routines. Our data point to a downside of dispositional self–control in ego depletion paradigms. Other explanations and potential future avenues for resolving inconsistent findings across the literature are discussed. Copyright © 2013 European Association of Personality Psychology

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Individual differences in working memory capacity and self-regulation following ego depletion

The Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the Japanese Psychological Association ◽

10.4992/pacjpa.79.0_1ev-025 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 79 (0) ◽

pp. 1EV-025-1EV-025

Author(s):

Ayano Yoshida

Keyword(s):

Working Memory ◽

Individual Differences ◽

Working Memory Capacity ◽

Self Regulation ◽

Ego Depletion ◽

Memory Capacity

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