![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Self-control is a central function of the self and an important key to success in life. The exertion of self-control appears to depend on a limited resource. Just as a muscle gets tired from exertion, acts of self-control cause short-term impairments (ego depletion) in subsequent self-control, even on unrelated tasks. Research has supported the strength model in the domains of eating, drinking, spending, sexuality, intelligent thought, making choices, and interpersonal behavior. Motivational or framing factors can temporarily block the deleterious effects of being in a state of ego depletion. Blood glucose is an important component of the energy.
Recommended Reading
| Baumeister, R.F., Schmeichel, B.J., Vohs, K.D. (2007). Self-regulation and the executive function: The self as controlling agent. In Kruglanski, A., Higgins, E.T. (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles (2nd ed., pp. 516–539). New York: Guilford. A recent and thorough overview of the research in a broad context. Google Scholar | |
| Gailliot, M.T., Baumeister, R.F., DeWall, C.N., Maner, J.K., Plant, E.A., Tice, D.M. (2007). (See References). Reports experiments linking behavioral self-control measures to blood glucose. Google Scholar | |
| Baumeister, R.F., Gailliot, M., DeWall, C.N., Oaten, M. (2006). (See References). An overview of the research program on self-control with emphasis on personality implications and alternative explanations. Google Scholar |
REFERENCES
| Baumeister, R.F. (in press). Free will in scientific psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science. Google Scholar | |
| Baumeister, R.F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M., Tice, D.M. (1998). Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1252–1265. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Baumeister, R.F., Gailliot, M., DeWall, C.N., Oaten, M. (2006). Self-regulation and personality: How interventions increase regulatory success, and how depletion moderates the effects of traits on behavior. Journal of Personality, 74, 1773–1801. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Baumeister, R.F., Heatherton, T.F., Tice, D.M. (1994). Losing control: How and why people fail at self-regulation. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Google Scholar | |
| Gailliot, M.T., Baumeister, R.F., DeWall, C.N., Maner, J.K., Plant, E.A., Tice, D.M., (2007). Self-control relies on glucose as a limited energy source: Willpower is more than a metaphor. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 325–336. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Gottfredson, M.R., Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Google Scholar | |
| Muraven, M., Shmueli, D., Burkley, E. (2006). Conserving self-control strength. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 524–537. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Muraven, M., Slessareva, E. (2003). Mechanisms of self-control failure: Motivation and limited resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 894–906. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Muraven, M., Tice, D.M., Baumeister, R.F. (1998). Self-control as limited resource: Regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 774–789. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Richeson, J.A., Shelton, J.N. (2003). When prejudice does not pay: Effects of interracial contact on executive function. Psychological Science, 14, 287–290. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
| Schmeichel, B.J., Vohs, K.D., Baumeister, R.F. (2003). Intellectual performance and ego depletion: Role of the self in logical reasoning and other information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 33–46. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Tangney, J.P., Baumeister, R.F., Boone, A.L. (2004). High self-control predicts good adjustment, less pathology, better grades, and interpersonal success. Journal of Personality, 72, 271–322. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Tice, D.M., Baumeister, R.F., Shmueli, D., Muraven, M. (2007). Restoring the self: Positive affect helps improve self-regulation following ego depletion. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 379–384. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Vohs, K.D., Baumeister, R.F., Ciarocco, N. (2005). Self-regulation and self-presentation: Regulatory resource depletion impairs impression management and effortful self-presentation depletes regulatory resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 632–657. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
| Vohs, K.D., Baumeister, R.F., Twenge, J.M., Nelson, N.M., Rawn, C.D., Schmeichel, B.J., Tice, D.M. (2007) Making choices impairs subsequent self-control: A limited resource account of decision making, self-regulation, and active initiative. Manuscript submitted for publication. Google Scholar | |
| Vohs, K.D., Faber, R.J. (2007). Spent resources: Self-regulatory resource availability affects impulse buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 537–547. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Wallace, H.M., Baumeister, R.F. (2002). The effects of success versus failure feedback on further self-control. Self and Identity, 1, 35–41. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
| Webb, T.L., Sheeran, P. (2003). Can implementation intentions help to overcome ego-depletion?Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 39, 279–286. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI |
