Mechanisms of Self-Control Failure: Motivation and Limited Resources

Ego-depletion or invigoration in solving the tower of Hanoi? Action orientation helps overcome planning deficits

Personality systems interaction (PSI) theory postulates two executive control modes: Self-control and self-regulation. Self-control, typical of state oriented persons, should result in “ego depletion” whereas self-regulation, typical of action oriented persons, should result in invigoration. State- and action-oriented participants performed the Plan-a-Day and the 5-disk Tower-of-Hanoi tasks. There were no differences between them on the first task, but action had better performance than state oriented in terms of number of moves and solution time on the second task, independently of differences in self-determination. Better performance in the Tower of Hanoi correlated positively with activation, and negatively with apathy. We conclude that whereas self-control is associated with depletion, self-regulation is associated with invigoration in performing the Tower of Hanoi task.

How to Form Good Habits? A Longitudinal Field Study on the Role of Self-Control in Habit Formation

When striving for long-term goals (e.g., healthy eating, saving money, reducing energy consumption, or maintaining interpersonal relationships), people often get in conflict with their short-term goals (e.g., enjoying tempting snacks, purchasing must-haves, getting warm, or watching YouTube video’s). Previous research suggests that people who are successful in controlling their behavior in line with their long-term goals rely on effortless strategies, such as good habits. In the present study, we aimed to track how self-control capacity affects the development of good habits in real life over a period of 90 days. Results indicated that habit formation increased substantially over the course of three months, especially for participants who consistently performed the desired behavior during this time. Contrary to our expectations, however, self-control capacity did not seem to affect the habit formation process. Directions for future research on self-control and other potential moderators in the formation of good habits are discussed.

The Temporal Ordering of Motivation and Self-Control: A Cross-Lagged Effects Model

Mechanisms leading to cognitive energy depletion in performance settings such as high-level sports highlight likely associations between individuals' self-control capacity and their motivation. Investigating the temporal ordering of these concepts combining self-determination theory and psychosocial self-control theories, the authors hypothesized that athletes' self-control capacity would be more influenced by their motivation than vice versa and that autonomous and controlled types of motivation would predict self-control capacity positively and negatively, respectively. High-level winter-sport athletes from Norwegian elite sport colleges (N = 321; 16-20 years) consented to participate. Using Bayesian structural equation modeling and 3-wave analyses, findings revealed credible self-control → motivation → self-control cross-lagged effects. Athletes' trait self-control especially initiated the temporal ordering of the least controlled types of motivation (i.e., intrinsic, integrated, and amotivation). Findings indicate that practicing self-control competencies and promoting athletes' autonomous types of motivation are important components in the development toward the elite level. These components will help athletes maintain their persistent goal striving by increasing the value and inherent satisfaction of the development process, avoiding the debilitating effects of self-control depletion and exhaustion.

Trait self-control does not predict attentional control: Evidence from a novel attention capture paradigm

To what extent are low-level visual and attentional phenomena related to higher-level personality traits? Trait self-control is thought to modulate behavior via two separate mechanisms: 1) by preventing initial temptation and, 2) by inhibiting temptation when it occurs (disengagement). Similarly, the control of visual attention often entails preventing initial distraction by irrelevant but tempting (goal-similar) objects, and disengaging attention when it has been inappropriately captured. Given these similarities, we examined whether individuals higher versus lower in trait self-control would differ in their susceptibility to attention capture using mouse-tracking as a sensitive, online measure of how attentional dynamics resolve over time and space in response to a distracting visual cue. Using a variety of metrics of attention capture, we found that differences among people in trait self-control did not predict initial selection of visual information nor subsequent disengagement. Overall, these results suggest that trait self-control and attention capture operate via separate mechanisms.

Regulating disappointment can impair cognitive performance in kindergarten children: Individual differences in ego depletion

Cognitive performance can be affected adversely when exerting self-control beforehand; a phenomenon known as ego depletion. The aim of the current study was to examine whether regulation of disappointment impairs cognitive performance in kindergarten children (mean age = 5 years, 6 months). Disappointment was induced by means of a modified version of the disappointing gift paradigm. Ego depletion effects were examined based on two different variables: cognitive performance and behavioral responses. Participants assigned to the experimental condition (n = 74) were disappointed before solving a cognitive executive function task. Participants assigned to the control condition (n = 74) were not disappointed before solving the cognitive task. Group comparisons (i.e., control group vs. experimental group) showed reduced cognitive performance for the experimental group in terms of accuracy and in terms of speed. Subsequent analyses for the experimental group revealed that only children who expressed appreciative positive emotions when receiving the unwanted gift showed impaired performance on the subsequent cognitive task. Children who expressed negative emotions when receiving the unwanted gift, as well as children who displayed no reaction toward the unwanted gift, did not show impaired cognitive performance. Furthermore, results revealed the crucial role of language for self-regulation skills. Overall, the current results underline the importance of taking individual difference in regulation strategies into account when examining ego depletion.

Bringing Giftedness to Bear: Generativity, Meaningfulness, and Self-Control as Resources for a Happy Life Among Gifted Adults

Meaning in life has been found to be of particular importance for the subjective well-being of intellectually gifted individuals. However, there is a lack of research about what contributes to gifted adults' meaning in life and how it could be enhanced. This study examined if the devotion of one's gift or talent to the well-being of others-i.e., the source of meaning "generativity"-would lead to a sense of meaning and, in further consequence, result in higher subjective well-being over time. Furthermore, we hypothesized that the effect of meaningfulness on subjective well-being was conditional on trait self-control. Longitudinal data of two gifted groups was obtained via an online study: 100 intellectually gifted individuals (55% female; mean age 43 ± 9 years) and 52 high academic achievers (29% female; mean age 57 ± 14 years). The former group experienced significantly lower levels of meaningfulness (p = 0.001, η2 = 0.076), self-control (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.090), and generativity (p = 0.025, η2 = 0.034) than the latter. As expected, the actualization of generative orientations in life enhanced both gifted groups' meaningfulness and, in further consequence, their subjective well-being over time. Furthermore, the positive association between life meaning and subjective well-being was enhanced by trait self-control among the intellectually gifted but not among the high academic achievers. However, as proposed, the latter's subjective well-being was strongly related to self-control. Results highlight that a generative orientation can help gifted individuals to advance a personal sense of meaning and happiness over time. In this context, intellectually gifted individuals appear to particularly benefit from self-control. Consequently, the intrinsic willpower to subdue inner responses, emotions as well as undesired behaviors might strengthen the positive effect between sources of meaning, life meaning, and subjective well-being.

The Perception of Available Resources Influences the After-Effect of Cognitive Control on Cognitive Performance and Pain

Abstract. In two experiments, we investigated the impact of perceived available cognitive resources using a sequential-task paradigm. First, participants worked on an easy or difficult cognitive task. Then, they received a cue suggesting that their cognitive resources were still optimal or they did not receive any information on their resources. Subsequently, they worked on a second difficult cognitive task (Experiment 1) or received painful electrical stimulations (Experiment 2). We predicted that the cue on optimal resources would neutralize the effect of the first difficult task on subsequent cognitive performance and pain. Overall, results supported our predictions. We interpret these findings as showing an important role of perceived available resources in the after-effect induced by the sequential-task paradigm.

The Limits of Ego Depletion

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.

The Past, Present, and Future of Ego Depletion

Abstract. At the center of social psychology just a few years ago, ego depletion is now widely seen as a controversial topic, one of the chief victims of the replication crisis. Despite over 600 studies of apparent support, many are now asking if ego depletion is even real. Here, we comment on the articles included in this Special Issue: Ego Depletion and Self-Control: Conceptual and Empirical Advances. Specifically, we delineate the contributions and limitations of these articles by embedding them in a brief history of ego depletion, describing the current state of uncertainty about ego depletion’s scientific status, and outlining necessary steps for the study of ego depletion to have a healthy future. To us, the most troubling aspect of this controversy is not what it suggests about ego depletion, but what it suggests about social psychology more broadly. If the mere existence of ego depletion is seriously doubted by many, what can be confidently regarded as real in social psychology? By increasing the precision of our theories, continuously validating our manipulations and measures, and practicing the full suite of open science practices, we have the potential to identify legitimate and robust effects and build a cumulative and trustworthy psychological science.

Is the Letter Cancellation Task a Suitable Index of Ego Depletion?

Abstract. The aim was to quantify ego depletion and measure its effect on inhibitory control. Adults ( N = 523) received the letter “e” cancellation ego depletion task and were subsequently tested on Stroop task performance. Difficulty of the cancellation task was systematically manipulated by modifying the text from semantically meaningful to non-meaningful sentences and words (Experiment 1) and by increasing ego depletion rule complexity (Experiment 2). Participants’ performance was affected by both text and rule manipulations. There was no relation between ego depletion task performance and subsequent Stroop performance. Thus, irrespective of the difficulty of the ego depletion task, Stroop performance was unaffected. The widely used cancellation task may not be a suitable inducer of ego depletion if ego depletion is considered as a lack of inhibitory control.

An Integrated Literature Review of Time-on-Task Effects With a Pragmatic Framework for Understanding and Improving Decision-Making in Multidisciplinary Oncology Team Meetings

Multidisciplinary oncology team meetings (MDMs) or tumor boards, like other MDMs in healthcare, facilitate the incorporation of diverse clinical expertise into treatment planning for patients. Decision-making (DM) in relation to treatment planning in MDMs is carried out repeatedly until all patients put forward for discussion have been reviewed. Despite continuing financial pressure and staff shortages, the workload of cancer MDMs, and therefore meeting duration continue to increase (up to 5 h) with patients often receiving less than 2 min of team input. This begs the question as to whether the current set-up is conducive to achieve optimal DM, which these multi-specialty teams were set out to achieve in the first place. Much of what it is known, however, about the effects of prolonged cognitive activity comes from various subfields of science, leaving a gap in applied knowledge relating to complex healthcare environments. The objective of this review was thus to synthesize theory, evidence and clinical practice in order to bring the current understanding of prolonged, repeated DM into the context of cancer MDMs. We explore how and why time spent on a task affects performance in such settings, and what strategies can be employed by cancer teams to counteract negative effects and improve quality and safety. In the process, we propose a pragmatic framework of repeated DM that encompasses the strength, the process and the cost-benefit models of self-control as applied to real-world contexts of cancer MDMs. We also highlight promising research avenues for closing the research-to-practice gap. Theoretical and empirical evidence reviewed in this paper suggests that over prolonged time spent on a task, repeated DM is cognitively taxing, leading to performance detriments. This deterioration is associated with various cognitive-behavioral pitfalls, including decreased attentional capacity and reduced ability to effectively evaluate choices, as well as less analytical DM and increased reliance on heuristics. As a short to medium term improvement for ensuring safety, consistently high quality of care for all patients, and the clinician wellbeing, future research and interventions in cancer MDMs should address time-on-task effects with a combination of evidence-based cognitive strategies. We propose in this review multiple measures that range from food intake, short breaks, rewards, and mental exercises. As a long term imperative, however, capacity within cancer services needs to be reviewed as well as how best to plan workforce development and service delivery models to achieve population coverage whilst maintaining safety and quality of care. Hence the performance detriments that arise in healthcare workers as a result of the intensity (time spent on a task) and complexity of the workload require not only more research, but also wider regulatory focus and recognition.

No Effect of Ego Depletion on Risk Taking

We investigated the effect of ego depletion on risk taking. Specifically, we conducted three studies (total n = 1,716) to test the prediction that ego depletion results in decisions that are more strongly in line with prospect theory, i.e., that ego depletion reduces risk taking for gains, increases risk taking for losses, and increases loss aversion. Ego depletion was induced using two of the most common manipulations from previous literature: the letter 'e' task (Studies 1 and 3) and the Stroop task (Study 2). Risk taking was measured using a series of standard, incentivized economic decision-making tasks assessing risk preferences in the gain domain, risk preferences in the loss domain, and loss aversion. None of the studies revealed a significant effect of ego depletion on risk taking. Our findings cast further doubts about the ability of ego-depletion manipulations to affect actual behavior in experimental settings.

Minority Stress, Emotion Regulation, and Executive Function: An Experimental Investigation of Gay and Lesbian Adults

Minority stress is associated with emotional, cognitive, and health consequences for sexual minority individuals. Mechanisms remain poorly understood. Theory and preliminary evidence suggests that stress associated with minority identity results in negative emotions and attempts at suppression, which may contribute to depletion of executive function. This study was an experimental investigation of gay and lesbian adults (N = 141). Participants engaged in a stressful interpersonal task with a confederate with anti-gay or pro-gay attitudes. We examined how condition affected executive function, along with potential mediators (state anger, anxiety, expressive suppression). Contrary to hypotheses, participants in the anti-gay condition showed better postmanipulation cognitive performance than the pro-gay condition. This effect was partially mediated by anger. Participants in the anti-gay condition reported greater attempts at suppression, but this variable did not emerge as a mediator. This study was the first to experimentally manipulate exposure to anti-gay attitudes and measure effects on executive function.

Positive-blank versus negative-blank feedback learning in children and adults

In positive-blank feedback learning, positive feedback is given to a correct response whereas blank feedback is given to an incorrect response. Conversely, in negative-blank feedback learning, blank feedback is given to a correct response and negative feedback to an incorrect response. As blank feedback might be subjectively interpreted as signalling a correct response, negative-blank feedback might be more informative than positive-blank feedback, and thus may result in better performance. However, positive-blank feedback might also be superior as it motivates the learner in lengthy tasks. These "information" and "motivation" accounts were tested in a two-block feedback learning paradigm. In the first block, that is, when the task duration was still short, children but not adults profited more from negative than from positive feedback. The results in children thus support the information account. In the second block, that is, when the task duration had become longer, children and adults profited more from positive feedback, thereby supporting the motivation account. Results are discussed in light of behavioural and neuroscientific theories on feedback learning.

Outsiders’ Thoughts on Generating Self-Regulatory-Depletion (Fatigue) Effects in Limited-Resource Experiments

We offer thoughts pertaining to purported conceptual and replication crises that have been discussed in relation to the limited-resource model (LRM) of self-control, functioning as crisis outsiders who have been conducting related research concerned with determinants and cardiovascular correlates of effort. Guiding analyses in our laboratory convey important lessons about experimental generation of the now-classic LRM self-regulatory-fatigue effect on control. They do so by drawing attention to conditions that must be met in fatigue-induction and fatigue-influence phases of relevant experiments. One fundamental lesson is that even highly standardized fatigue-induction protocols cannot be expected to consistently allow definitive tests of this effect. Another is that the effect might emerge consistently only in a behavioral-restraint “sweet spot” of sorts—a multidimensional motivational space wherein rested study participants view restraint as possible and worthwhile and fatigued participants do not. Implications are identified and discussed.

When are fakers also drinkers? A self-control view of emotional labor and alcohol consumption among U.S. service workers

Some employees tend to drink more alcohol than other employees, with costs to personal and organizational well-being. Based on a self-control framework, we propose that emotional labor with customers-effortfully amplifying, faking, and suppressing emotional expressions (i.e., surface acting)-predicts alcohol consumption, and that this relationship varies depending on job expectations for self-control (i.e., autonomy) and personal self-control traits (i.e., impulsivity). We test these predictions with data drawn from a national probability sample of U.S. workers, focusing on employees with daily contact with outsiders (N = 1,592). The alcohol outcomes included heavy drinking and drinking after work. Overall, surface acting was robustly related to heavy drinking, even after controlling for demographics, job demands, and negative affectivity, consistent with an explanation of impaired self-control. Surface acting predicted drinking after work only for employees with low self-control jobs or traits; this effect was exacerbated for those with service encounters (i.e., customers and the public) and buffered for those with service relationships (i.e., patients, students, and clients). We discuss what these results mean for emotional labor and propose directions for helping the large segment of U.S. employees in public facing occupations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

The Moderating Role of Self-Control and Financial Strain in the Relation between Exposure to the Food Environment and Obesity: The GLOBE Study

Low self-control and financial strain may limit individuals’ capacity to resist temptations in the local food environment. We investigated the moderating role of self-control and financial strain in the relation between the food environment and higher body weight. We used data from 2812 Dutch adults who participated in the population-based GLOBE study in 2014. Participants’ home addresses and the location of food retailers in 2013 were mapped using GIS. The density of fast food retailers and the totality of food retailers in Euclidean buffers of 250, 400 and 800 m around the home were linked to body mass index and overweight status. A higher density of fast food outlets (B (95% confidence interval (CI)) = −0.04 (−0.07; −0.01)) and the totality of food outlets (B (95% CI) = −0.01 (−0.01; −0.00)) were associated with a lower body mass index. Stratification showed that associations were strongest for those experiencing low self-control or great financial strain. For example, every additional fast food outlet was associated with a 0.17 point lower BMI in those with great financial strain, while not significantly associated with BMI in those with no financial strain. In conclusion, we did find support for a moderating role of self-control and financial strain, but associations between the food environment and weight status were not in the expected direction.

Ego Depletion as a Measure of Emotion Processing Deficits among MUS Patients

Previous studies have found a link between emotion processing deficits and medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUS). The majority of previous studies have used self-report measures of emotional processing, with the majority focusing on alexithymia, and have produced inconsistent and contradictory results. In the present study, we investigated the role of emotion-processing deficits in MUS by assessing emotion regulation performance and the effects of performance on ego depletion. Participants with high or low levels of self-reported MUS watched emotion-evoking videos under instructions to allow or suppress their emotional reactions, and then performed an anagram task to measure their effort and perseverance. Contrary to the research with self-report measures, experimental analysis of emotion-processing revealed that MUS is correlated with the inability to regulate negative emotions. Unexpected self-regulatory tendencies of the participants with high symptom levels were discussed.

Autonomous Goal Striving Promotes a Nonlimited Theory About Willpower

People who believe that willpower is not limited exhibit higher self-regulation and well-being than people who believe that willpower is a limited resource. So far, only little is known about the antecedents of people's beliefs about willpower. Three studies examine whether autonomous goal striving promotes the endorsement of a nonlimited belief and whether this relationship is mediated by vitality, the feeling of being awake and energetic. Study 1 (n = 208) showed that autonomous goal striving predicts a change in willpower beliefs over 4 months and that this change is mediated by vitality. Study 2 (n = 92) replicated this finding using experience sampling assessments of vitality. Experimental Study 3 (n = 243) showed that inducing an autonomous mind-set enhances people's endorsement of a nonlimited belief by fostering vitality. The studies support the idea that what people believe about willpower depends, at least in part, on recent experiences with tasks as being energizing or draining.

The impact of self-control cues on subsequent monetary risk-taking

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

The "process-model" of self-control proposes that the ego-depletion effect is better explained by a switch between interest in "have-to" labor and cognitive "want-to" leisure, rather than being mainly due to a decrease in cognitive resources, as advanced by the "strength-model" of self-control. However, it is currently difficult to disentangle the "process-model" from the "strength-model" of self-control. Here, we employed a stepwise approach, featuring three studies, for testing the process model of self-control.

METHODS

In Study 1, we created a list of 30 self-control events for characterizing "have-to" conducts in the daily life. In Study 2, mental visualization of effortful self-control events ("have-to") and monetary risk-taking ("want-to") were employed for testing the strength-model of self-control. In Study 3, to test the process-model of self-control, participants were simply required to read self-control (or neutral) sentences.

RESULTS

Study 1 provided evidence regarding external validly for the list of self-control events. Study 2 showed that mental visualization of effortful self-control events increases subsequent monetary risk-taking. Study 3 highlighted that the brief apparition of a self-control-related sentence was sufficient for increasing risk-taking. These patterns were evidenced in the trial with the less advantageous gain/loss ratio.

DISCUSSION

Altogether these findings support the process-model of self-control in showing that triggering the semantic content of a "have-to" conduct, without its actual execution, is sufficient for modulating subsequent "want-to" activity.

CONCLUSION

These findings could contribute to advancing current knowledge on how the high availability of ready-to-consume rewards in modern environments is redefining humans' self-control ability.

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

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.

Testing the applied potential of the Sheffield Lie Test

The Sheffield Lie Test (SLT) has been frequently used in laboratory research investigating basic mechanisms of deception. Its applied potential as a lie detection tool has been contested. The current two experiments used a reaction time SLT and investigated whether it can discriminate between participants who committed a mock crime and participants who performed an everyday activity. Results of the first experiment revealed that guilty participants (n = 32) took longer and committed more errors when having to deceptively deny the mock crime and deceptively confirm having performed the everyday activity in contrast to truthfully admitting the mock crime and denying the everyday activity. Innocent participants (n = 29) showed the reversed pattern. Individual Cohen's d's and the area under the ROC curve revealed a high above chance discrimination between both groups. In a second experiment, we repeated this procedure, yet participants were now given a more elaborate explanation of the alibi activity that all should pretend to have done. Although results still revealed the expected pattern in innocent participants (n = 48), the effect was not significant any more for the guilty participants (n = 46). Accordingly, classification accuracies also dropped. These two experiments demonstrate the applied potential of the SLT, yet at the same time its severe limitations. Potential solutions and suggestions for future research will be discussed.

Do I focus on the process of cycling or try to put my mind elsewhere? A comparison of concentration strategies for use in pacing by novice riders

The ability to hold a pace is a key skill for endurance athletes. The present study compared the influence of different strategies on how athletes learn to pace at 80% of their maximum performance for a 3-min cycle time trial. Participants first completed three maximal 3-min tests to establish maximal performance. During subsequent visits we asked participants to ride at 80% of their average maximal 3-min power output for four 3-min efforts under different conditions. Participants were blinded to feedback for three of the four conditions with participants (a) riding on feel (all feedback blinded), (b) associating on the task by focusing attention on the skills needed for efficient cycling, and (c) dissociating from the task by intentionally focusing concentration elsewhere (d) and finally, participants rode with full feedback where pace could be regulated via observation. All participants completed the blind condition first, the full feedback condition last, with association focus and dissociation focus rides being alternated. As expected, results showed participants rode close to the 80% goal when observing full feedback. Participants rode at 82% of maximum in the blind "ride on feel" condition, 79% in the associative condition, and 70% in the dissociative condition. We suggest results show that simple strategies related to concentration can influence the accuracy of pacing efforts. The difference in the ability to pace while using an associative or dissociative attentional focus was consistent with theory. The differences we observed occurred with minimal input from participants in terms of actively learning psychological skills. Future research is needed to investigate how athletes learn to use pacing strategies to help performance.

Effect of negative motivation on the behavioral and autonomic correlates of deception

In forensic contexts, lying is often motivated by the will to avoid negative consequences (e.g., an arrest). Previous research investigating the effect of motivation on deception has, however, nearly exclusively focused on the effect of positive motivation (e.g., via financial rewards). In the current study, we aimed to replicate previous studies on the behavioral and autonomic correlates of deception and to investigate the influence of negative motivation on those correlates. Participants committed a mock theft and underwent a questioning procedure in which they had to truthfully and deceptively answer questions about the committed mock crime and a control crime. Half of the participants completed the procedure without any specific motivation, whereas the other half of the participants was told that lies detected by a computer algorithm would result in an unpleasant electric stimulation. Results revealed longer reaction times, larger skin conductance responses, and a relative heart rate slowing for lying compared to truth telling. The latter two effects were larger in the motivation compared to the control condition. Results are in line with the motivation impairment hypothesis and effects of positive motivation on the autonomic correlates of information concealment. The observation that a higher motivation increased rather than decreased deception effects is promising for forensic contexts. The possible explanation that these effects could be related to fear conditioning should stimulate future research on the stability of differences between lying and truth telling in people who experienced no or only seldom punishment for deception in their learning history.

Self-control demands and alcohol-related problems: Within- and between-person associations

This study tested a multilevel structural model of associations between two aspects of self-control (effortful control and reactivity), self-control demands, alcohol consumption, and alcohol problems and related risk behaviors using daily diary data from 196 young adults (4,177 person-days). Self-control demands were hypothesized to be positively associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol problems and related risk behaviors both within- and between-persons. At the between-person level, self-control demands were hypothesized to mediate the association between trait self-control and alcohol problems and related risk behaviors. At the within-person level, self-control demands had a direct positive effect on alcohol problems and related risk behaviors, over and above alcohol consumption. However, contrary to expectation, self-control demands were inversely associated with alcohol consumption. In contrast, self-control demands were positively associated with alcohol consumption at the between-person level and partially mediated the positive effects of reactivity on consumption and alcohol problems and related risk behaviors. That is, reactivity was associated with higher perceived self-control demands, which in turn predicted higher rates of consumption and alcohol problems and related risk behaviors. Effortful control was not significantly associated with alcohol consumption or self-control demands. The pattern of self-control demand effects at the within-person level suggest that young adults are less likely to drink when struggling to manage their day-to-day behavior, yet if they do drink they are more susceptible to negative consequences. Trait effects suggest that individual differences in self-control may be associated with alcohol use patterns in part attributable to development of, and response to, structured daily routines. (PsycINFO Database Record

Mental Work Requires Physical Energy: Self-Control Is Neither Exception nor Exceptional

The brain’s reliance on glucose as a primary fuel source is well established, but psychological models of cognitive processing that take energy supply into account remain uncommon. One exception is research on self-control depletion, where debate continues over a limited-resource model. This model argues that a transient reduction in self-control after the exertion of prior self-control is caused by the depletion of brain glucose, and that self-control processes are special, perhaps unique, in this regard. This model has been argued to be physiologically implausible in several recent reviews. This paper attempts to correct some inaccuracies that have occurred during debate over the physiological plausibility of this model. We contend that not only is such limitation of cognition by constraints on glucose supply plausible, it is well established in the neuroscience literature across several cognitive domains. Conversely, we argue that there is no evidence that self-control is special in regard to its metabolic cost. Mental processes require physical energy, and the body is limited in its ability to supply the brain with sufficient energy to fuel mental processes. This article reviews current findings in brain metabolism and seeks to resolve the current conflict in the field regarding the physiological plausibility of the self-control glucose-depletion hypothesis.

Selbstkontrolle im Sport und die Bedeutsamkeit von achtsamkeitsbasierten Trainings

Zusammenfassung. Im leistungs- und im gesundheitsorientierten Sport ist Selbstkontrolle von hoher Relevanz, u.a. um optimale Leistung zu erzielen und Gesundheit durch Bewegung aufrechtzuerhalten. Im vorliegenden Überblicksartikel stellen wir Befunde zu Selbstkontrollbeeinträchtigungen im Sportkontext vor und diskutieren diese anhand von Ressourcen- und Prozessmodellen. Danach argumentieren wir, dass achtsamkeitsbasierte Trainings eine mögliche Strategie darstellen könnten, Selbstkontrollbeeinträchtigungen zu reduzieren. Abschließend werden Grenzen von achtsamkeitsbasierten Trainings und Selbstkontrolltheorien, offene Forschungsfragen sowie praktische Implikationen diskutiert.

Is Ego Depletion Real? An Analysis of Arguments

An influential line of research suggests that initial bouts of self-control increase the susceptibility to self-control failure (ego depletion effect). Despite seemingly abundant evidence, some researchers have suggested that evidence for ego depletion was the sole result of publication bias and p-hacking, with the true effect being indistinguishable from zero. Here, we examine (a) whether the evidence brought forward against ego depletion will convince a proponent that ego depletion does not exist and (b) whether arguments that could be brought forward in defense of ego depletion will convince a skeptic that ego depletion does exist. We conclude that despite several hundred published studies, the available evidence is inconclusive. Both additional empirical and theoretical works are needed to make a compelling case for either side of the debate. We discuss necessary steps for future work toward this aim.

Self-leadership and self-control strength in the work context

Purpose

Based on the limited strength model, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship of self-leadership strategies (behavior-focused strategies, constructive thought patterns) and qualitative and quantitative overload with subsequent self-control strength.

Design/methodology/approach

The present study is a field study with 142 university affiliates and two measurement occasions during a typical workday (before and after lunch). Self-control strength was measured using a handgrip task.

Findings

Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that self-leadership, quantitative overload, and qualitative overload were not directly associated with self-control strength at either of the two measurement occasions. Qualitative overload moderated the relationship between self-leadership and self-control strength, such that self-leadership was associated with lower self-control strength at both measurement occasions when individuals experienced high qualitative overload in the morning.

Practical implications

Employees and employers should be aware of the possibly depleting characteristics of self-leadership in order to be able to create a work environment allowing for the recovery and replenishment of self-control strength.

Originality/value

The present field study theoretically and methodologically contributes to the literature on self-leadership and self-control strength in the work context by investigating the depleting nature of self-leadership and workload.

Effects of Mental Fatigue on Physical Endurance Performance and Muscle Activation Are Attenuated by Monetary Incentives

Physical performance is impaired following cognitive control exertion. Incentives can ameliorate adverse carryover effects of cognitive control exertion but have not been investigated for physical endurance. This study examined the effect of monetary incentives on physical performance and muscle activation following exposure to a mentally fatiguing, cognitive control task. Participants (N = 82) performed two isometric endurance handgrip trials separated by a 12-min cognitive control manipulation using a 2 (high cognitive control [HCC]/low cognitive control [LCC]) × 2 (incentive/no incentive) design. Mental fatigue was significantly higher in the HCC conditions. Performance decreased in the HCC/no incentive condition but was unaffected in the HCC/incentive condition, which did not differ from the low cognitive control conditions. Electromyography data revealed increased muscle activation in the HCC/no incentive condition, which was also attenuated in the HCC/incentive condition. Findings show that incentives counteract the negative effects of HCC on physical endurance and alter central drive to motor units.

Finding the "self" in self-regulation: The identity-value model

Many psychological theories suggest a link between self-regulation and identity, but until now a mechanistic account that suggests ways to improve self-regulation has not been put forth. The identity-value model (IVM) connects the idea from social psychology, that aspects of identity such as core values and group affiliations hold positive subjective value, to the process-focused account from decision-making and behavioral economics, that self-regulation is driven by a dynamic value integration across a range of choice attributes. Together, these ideas imply that goal-directed behaviors that are identity-relevant are more likely to be enacted because they have greater subjective value than identity-irrelevant behaviors. A central hypothesis, therefore, is that interventions that increase the degree to which a target behavior is perceived as self-relevant will improve self-regulation. Additionally, identity-based changes in self-regulation are expected to be mediated by changes in subjective value and its underlying neural systems. In this paper, we define the key constructs relevant to the IVM, explicate the model and delineate its boundary conditions, and describe how it fits with related theories. We also review disparate results in the research literature that might share identity-related value as a common underlying mechanism of action. We close by discussing questions about the model whose answers could advance the study of self-regulation.