The role of implicit affective responses and trait self-control in ego resource management

The Interaction Between Measurement and Individual Difference in Ego Depletion: Task Type, Trait Self-Control and Action Orientation

Previous research found that performing an initial self-control task impairs subsequent self-control performance, which is referred to as ego depletion. However, recent meta-analyses and replication studies have led to controversies over whether the ego depletion effect is as reliable as previously assumed. The present study aimed to shed more light on these controversies by combining depletion measurement task type and personality as moderators. Study 1 investigated trait self-control and action orientation's moderation role for depletion effects on stop-signal task (inhibitory control). Study 2 examined the trait self-control and action orientation's moderation role for depletion effects on a majority congruent Stroop task (goal maintenance). Results showed that trait self-control moderated the ego depletion effect on stop-signal reaction time (SSRT). High trait self-control people were less vulnerable to the ego depletion effect on the reactive inhibitory control task, whereas the moderating role of trait self-control for ego depletion was not found in the goal maintenance task. More particularly, high action-oriented people were less susceptible to the ego depletion effect on the goal maintenance task, but there was no moderation effect of action orientation for ego depletion in the stop-signal task. We discuss types of task for depletion measurement and individual differences in ego depletion, and we suggest possible avenues for future research.

How Do Instant Messages Reduce Psychological Withdrawal Behaviors?-Mediation of Engagement and Moderation of Self-Control

Enabling people to send and receive short text-based messages in real-time, instant messaging (IM) is a communication technology that allows instantaneous information exchanges. The development of technology makes IM communication widely adopted in the workplace, which brings a series of changes for modern contemporary working life. Based on the conservation of resource theory (COR), this paper explores the mechanism of workplace IM communication on employees’ psychological withdrawal, and investigates the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship and the moderating role of self-control. Using the experience sampling method (ESM), a 10-consecutive workdays daily study was conducted among 66 employees. By data analysis of 632 observations using SPSS and HLM, results found that: (1) IM demands had a positive relation with emotion and cognitive engagement. (2) Emotion and cognitive engagement were negatively correlated with psychological withdrawal. (3) Emotion and cognitive engagement mediated the relations of IM demands and psychological withdrawal. (4) Self-control moderated the relationship between emotional engagement and psychological withdrawal.

A meta-analysis of procedures to change implicit measures

Using a novel technique known as network meta-analysis, we synthesized evidence from 492 studies (87,418 participants) to investigate the effectiveness of procedures in changing implicit measures, which we define as response biases on implicit tasks. We also evaluated these procedures' effects on explicit and behavioral measures. We found that implicit measures can be changed, but effects are often relatively weak (|ds| < .30). Most studies focused on producing short-term changes with brief, single-session manipulations. Procedures that associate sets of concepts, invoke goals or motivations, or tax mental resources changed implicit measures the most, whereas procedures that induced threat, affirmation, or specific moods/emotions changed implicit measures the least. Bias tests suggested that implicit effects could be inflated relative to their true population values. Procedures changed explicit measures less consistently and to a smaller degree than implicit measures and generally produced trivial changes in behavior. Finally, changes in implicit measures did not mediate changes in explicit measures or behavior. Our findings suggest that changes in implicit measures are possible, but those changes do not necessarily translate into changes in explicit measures or behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

"Turn Around and Forget": Assessment of the Cognitive Inhibitory Effect of Working Memory Information Using the List-Before-Last Paradigm

This study mainly discusses whether the cognitive inhibitory effect of working memory information is affected by the nature of the signified information and the number of retrieval cues in the inhibitory information. Experiment 1 of our study examined the effect of concreteness on the information retrieval phase under different cognitive inhibition scenarios that were distinguished by the nature of the signified information and the number of retrieval cues in the inhibitory information. Experiment 2 of our study examined the effect of the number of retrieval cues in the inhibitory information on the cognitive inhibitory effect under different cognitive inhibition scenarios. The results of both experiments showed that information displaying more concrete characteristics exerted a greater the cognitive inhibitory effect during the working memory task, and a greater cognitive inhibitory effect was produced when all of inhibition retrieval information clues are provided than when none of the clues are provided in the working memory task. Based on these results, the concreteness effect on cognitive inhibition exists, and when all retrieval clues for inhibitory information are provided, the cognitive inhibitory effect might be greater.

The Effect of Implicit Preferences on Food Consumption: Moderating Role of Ego Depletion and Impulsivity

Ego depletion has been found to moderate the effect of implicit preferences on food consumption, such that implicit preferences predict consumption only under a depleted state. The present study tested how trait impulsivity impacts the effect of implicit preferences on food consumption in a depleted condition. Trait impulsivity was measured by means of self-report and a stop signal task. Results showed that both self-reported impulsivity and behavioral impulsivity moderated the 'depletion and then eating according to implicit preferences' effect, albeit in different ways. Participants high in self-reported impulsivity and low in behavioral impulsivity were more vulnerable to the effect of depletion on eating. The implications of these results for extant theories are discussed. Future research is needed to verify whether or not trait impulsivity is associated with vulnerability to depletion across different self-control domains.