Time to Set a New Research Agenda for Ego Depletion and 					Self-Control

Dang, Junhua; Hagger, Martin S.

doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000399

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…However, scholars have questioned whether human brain functioning is substantively impaired by small reductions in blood glucose [ 20 ]. Moreover, studies with more powerful designs than the original studies assessing the theory of ego depletion have recorded mixed findings [ 21 – 23 ] and the theory itself has been critiqued as being overly rigid, with insufficient attention paid to the context in which glucose depletion occurs [ 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hangry in the field: An experience sampling study on the impact of hunger on anger, irritability, and affect

et al. 2022

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The colloquial term “hangry” refers to the notion that people become angry when hungry, but very little research has directly determined the extent to which the relationship between hunger and negative emotions is robust. Here, we examined associations between everyday experiences of hunger and negative emotions using an experience sampling method. Sixty-four participants from Central Europe completed a 21-day experience sampling phase in which they reported their hunger, anger, irritability, pleasure, and arousal at five time-points each day (total = 9,142 responses). Results indicated that greater levels of self-reported hunger were associated with greater feelings of anger and irritability, and with lower pleasure. These findings remained significant after accounting for participant sex, age, body mass index, dietary behaviours, and trait anger. In contrast, associations with arousal were not significant. These results provide evidence that everyday levels of hunger are associated with negative emotionality and supports the notion of being “hangry”.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hangry in the field: An experience sampling study on the impact of hunger on anger, irritability, and affect

et al. 2022

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“…Indeed, while brief laboratory manipulations have sometimes failed to show depletion effects, they have been observed when participants had to engage in a cognitively taxing task over extended periods of time [ 18 ]. Our work, therefore, fits with calls to explore a range of methods to test the implications of reduced self-control [ 20 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“… 5 Definitions of the concepts of ego depletion, self-regulation and cognitive control have received extensive attention (e.g. [ 20 , 21 ]). These theoretical discussions are outside the scope of the current investigation, for which we do not take a strong theoretical stance.…”

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confidence: 99%

Quantifying the cost of decision fatigue: suboptimal risk decisions in finance

Baer

Schnall

2021

R. Soc. open sci.

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Making decisions over extended periods of time is cognitively taxing and can lead to decision fatigue, which is linked to a preference for the ‘default’ option, namely whatever decision involves relatively little cognitive effort. Such effects have been demonstrated across a number of applied settings, including forensic and clinical contexts. Previous research, however, has not quantified the cost of such suboptimal decisions. We assessed the magnitude of the negative consequences of decision fatigue in the finance sector. Using 26 501 credit loan applications evaluated by credit officers of a major bank, we show that in this real-life financial risk-taking context credit loan approvals across the course of a day decreased during midday compared with early or later in the workday, reflecting a preference for the default option. To quantify the economic loss associated with such decision variability, we then modelled the bank's additional credit collection if all decisions had been made during early morning levels of approval. This would have resulted in $509 023 extra revenue for the bank, for one month. Thus, we provide further evidence that is consistent with a pattern of decision fatigue, and that it can have a substantial negative impact in the finance sector that warrants considerations to counteract it.

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“…This is of utmost importance, because if participants in manipulated conditions are not sufficiently engaged with or motivated to perform T1 tasks, this may have contributed heavily to the mixed findings and poor understanding of the depletion phenomenon. Further, this will allow researchers to distinguish between individuals who are fatigued, indifferent, or activated by an initial task (Dang & Hagger, 2019;cf. Converse & DeShon, 2009;Xiao et al, 2014).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconceptualizing Ego Depletion as Transient Cognitive Fatigue

Hurley

2021

SSRN Journal

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Ego depletion is embroiled in a crisis that has cast doubts over the legitimacy of the phenomenon itself and its theoretical explanation. I first summarize and analyze the strength model of selfcontrol as cohesive theoretical explanations of the phenomenon and highlight the difficulties it creates for depletion researchers. I conclude that the strength model is not the best theoretical explanation for the depletion phenomenon. Rather, I propose reconceptualizing the ego depletion effect as transient cognitive fatigue (TCF). To support this theoretical shift, I highlight how both the classic and disparate findings in the depletion literature cleanly map into the literature on cognitive fatigue, and how considering depletion to be TCF accommodates existing theoretical alternatives to the strength model.

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Time to Set a New Research Agenda for Ego Depletion and Self-Control

Cited by 15 publications

References 47 publications

Hangry in the field: An experience sampling study on the impact of hunger on anger, irritability, and affect

Hangry in the field: An experience sampling study on the impact of hunger on anger, irritability, and affect

Quantifying the cost of decision fatigue: suboptimal risk decisions in finance

Reconceptualizing Ego Depletion as Transient Cognitive Fatigue

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