A series of meta-analytic tests of the depletion effect: Self-control does not seem to rely on a limited resource
Failures of self-control are thought to underlie various important behaviors (e.g., addiction, violence, obesity, poor academic achievement). The modern conceptualization of self-control failure has been heavily influenced by the idea that self-control functions as if it relied upon a limited physio...
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| Published in: | Journal of experimental psychology. General Vol. 144; no. 4; pp. 796 - 815 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
United States
01.08.2015
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| Subjects: | |
| ISSN: | 1939-2222 |
| Online Access: | Get more information |
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| Summary: | Failures of self-control are thought to underlie various important behaviors (e.g., addiction, violence, obesity, poor academic achievement). The modern conceptualization of self-control failure has been heavily influenced by the idea that self-control functions as if it relied upon a limited physiological or cognitive resource. This view of self-control has inspired hundreds of experiments designed to test the prediction that acts of self-control are more likely to fail when they follow previous acts of self-control (the depletion effect). Here, we evaluated the empirical evidence for this effect with a series of focused, meta-analytic tests that address the limitations in prior appraisals of the evidence. We find very little evidence that the depletion effect is a real phenomenon, at least when assessed with the methods most frequently used in the laboratory. Our results strongly challenge the idea that self-control functions as if it relies on a limited psychological or physical resource. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 1939-2222 |
| DOI: | 10.1037/xge0000083 |