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Research suggests that two, consecutive acts of self-control lead to impaired performance. This phenomenon is termed "ego depletion." It is assumed that an act of self-control consumes energy from some limited resource leaving less energy available for a subsequent act of self-control. Study 1 tested the alternative hypothesis that people's naïve theory or expectancy of the consequences of self-control influences their performance on control-demanding tasks. Participants watched an upsetting video fragment and subsequently performed a physical exercise test demanding self-control. Participants who suppressed their emotional reactions to the video showed ego-depletion: Their performance at the physical test decreased. However, if their (implicit) expectation that self-control negatively influences subsequent performance was challenged, their performance increased. Study 2 showed the existence of a dominant expectation that self-control consumes energy. These results indicate that the occurrence of the ego depletion phenomenon is strongly influenced by expectancies or schemata about self-control.The ability to control thoughts, emotions, impulses, and behavior is considered a crucial human feature. The capacity to override

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PurposeNew food technologies are of increasing importance but not a lot of research into how people react to these technologies has been conducted. The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into how implicit measurements in addition to explicit measurements give insight into how well an attitude towards a food concept, in relation to its familiarity, is predictive for behaviour.Design/methodology/approachAn implicit measurement (EAST) and an explicit questionnaire were used to investigate people's attitudes and attitude strength towards two food technologies (genetic modification and organic production). Correlations between the two measurements were calculated to determine whether familiar food technologies are more predictive for behaviour than relatively unfamiliar food technologies.FindingsImplicit measurements showed negative associations with genetic modification. Explicit measurements showed neutral associations with genetic modification. In contrast, implicit and explicit measurements showed positive associations with organic production. When a food technology is well known (e.g. organic production), significant correlations between the two measurements were present suggesting that attitudes were predictive for behaviour. In contrast, when a food technology is not well known (e.g. genetic modification), significant correlations were not present suggesting that attitudes were not predictive for behaviour.Originality/valueThis is the first study to examine the relation between intuitive and explicit reactions in relation with the novelty of food technologies.