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A series of meta-analytic tests of the depletion effect: Self-control does not seem to rely on a limited resource.
Open accessAbstract
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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Bias adjustment methods successfully identified the overestimation of ego depletion effects.
“In application, these methods successfully identified the overestimation of ego depletion effects, for example (Carter et al., 2015; Carter & McCullough, 2014).”
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“In application, these methods successfully identified the overestimation of ego depletion effects, for example (Carter et al., 2015; Carter & McCullough, 2014).”
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“Thus, estimates of ADHD-related impairments should be interpreted with the clinical nature of the comparison group in mind.”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Carter, E. C., Kofler, L. M., Forster, D. E., & McCullough, M. E.
- Venue
- Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
- Published
- 2015-08
- Volume
- 144
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 796-815
- ISSN
- 0096-3445 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-2222
- OpenAlex
- W2186516452
- Cited by
- 594
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 29 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 87 · 2020: 57 · 2019: 74 · 2018: 66 · 2017: 73 · 2016: 53 · 2015: 10
- FWCI
- 98.49
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Experimental Psychology General (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- John Templeton Foundation
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Behavioral Health and Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Keywords
- self-control, depletion effect, resource constraints, cognitive control, self-control failure, obesity, violence
- MeSH terms
- Self-Control, Ego, Humans
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