Ego Depletion: An Introduction

You probably know that it's easier to lose weight if the cookie jar is empty. Seems obvious: you can't snack on cookies you don't have. But there's more truth here than cookie shortages can explain. If the cookies aren't there to tempt you, you needn't spend energy resisting temptation. Ego depletion is the idea that energy spent on self-regulation isn't available again until you rest and recover.

The term was coined by Roy Baumeister just about 15 years ago [Baumeister 1998]. The phenomenon has since been repeatedly demonstrated experimentally.

In one experiment, test subjects are presented with two foods — radishes and chocolate chip cookies. Individuals in one group were instructed to eat three radishes and no cookies, and individuals in the other are instructed to eat three cookies and no radishes. All individuals are left alone in a cookie-aroma-filled room with both foods, long enough to tempt them to sample the food they were told to avoid. Later, each subject was given an unsolveable problem, and told to spend as long on solving it as they wished. Those instructed to eat the radishes and resist the cookies spent less time on the unsolveable problem, tried fewer different approaches to solving it, and gave up more quickly than those instructed to sample the cookies.

This experiment and many more like it produce results that suggest that resisting temptation depletes a finite resource, analogous to vigorously exercising a muscle. Your "self-regulation system" tires after a period of use. Unless it's given time to rest and recover, its capability is restricted.

Experiments are almost always so artificial-sounding that we must ask, "What does this have to do with reality?" The answer is, in short, "A whole lot."

Ego depletion Resisting temptation depletes
a finite resource, analogous
to vigorously exercising a muscleexplains the effectiveness of many business tactics that predate its discovery by decades, in industries as unrelated as retailing, cable television, and higher education.

Here's an example. Suppose you have several teammates whose interactions with others usually involve unprovoked attacks, condescension, and insults. You don't feel that it's your place to attempt to alter their behavior. When they attack you, which happens at nearly every meeting, you restrain your anger. You refuse to engage with them in their nastiness.

Ego depletion would predict that in such scenarios, the people who are attacked are less able to regulate their own behavior after the incident. They might indulge in sweets after or during the meeting. They might be rude or abusive to others at an unrelated following meeting that day. They might procrastinate performing tiresome or difficult tasks. They might be snippy with loved ones at home that evening.

These are just some of the predictions of the ego depletion hypothesis. In coming issues, we'll explore these ideas in a variety of workplace circumstances. The possibilities are eye opening. Meanwhile, I'm gonna get a cookie.  Top    Next Issue

Is every other day a tense, anxious, angry misery as you watch people around you, who couldn't even think their way through a game of Jacks, win at workplace politics and steal the credit and glory for just about everyone's best work including yours? Read 303 Secrets of Workplace Politics, filled with tips and techniques for succeeding in workplace politics. More info

Recent research has raised serious questions about the concept of ego depletion. See, for example, Martin S. Hagger and Nikos L. D. Chatzisarantis, "A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect," Perspectives on Psychological Science 11:4, pp. 546-573, 2016. This paper describes a large, coordinated effort to reproduce the main effect that underlies the strength model, with more than 2,000 subjects at 24 different laboratories on several continents. The study failed to reproduce the previously claimed result, which almost conclusively nullifies the theory. However, some, including Baumeister, claim that the experiment was flawed, in that it was inherently unable to find the effect. Daniel Engber has provided a more accessible version of the situation in Slate.

Footnotes

Your comments are welcome

About Point Lookout

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful, and that you'll consider recommending it to a friend.

Point Lookout is a free weekly email newsletter. Browse the archive of past issues. Subscribe for free.

Support Point Lookout by joining the Friends of Point Lookout, as an individual or as an organization.

Do you face a complex interpersonal situation? Send it in, anonymously if you like, and I'll give you my two cents.

Related articles

More articles on Workplace Politics:

The Risky Role of Hands-On Project Manager

The hands-on project manager manages the project and performs some of the work, too. There are lots of excellent hands-on project managers, but the job is inherently risky, and it's loaded with potential conflicts of interest.

How to Avoid a Layoff: Your Situation

These are troubled economic times. Layoffs are becoming increasingly common. Here are some tips for positioning yourself in the organization to reduce the chances that you will be laid off.

Devious Political Tactics: Mis- and Disinformation

Practitioners of workplace politics intent on gaining unfair advantage sometimes use misinformation, disinformation, and other information-related tactics. Here's a short catalog of techniques to watch for.

You Can't Control What Other People Think

Ever think that the world would be a much better place if you could control what other people think? Maybe it would be. And maybe not...

Why We Don't Care Anymore

As a consultant and coach I hear about what people hate about their jobs. Here's some of it. It might help you appreciate your job.

See also Workplace Politics and Emotions at Work for more related articles.

Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout

Coming December 19: Embarrassment, Shame, and Guilt at Work: Creation

Three feelings are often confused with each other: embarrassment, shame, and guilt. To understand how to cope with these feelings, begin by understanding what different kinds of situations we use when we create these feelings. Available here and by RSS on December 19.

And on December 26: Embarrassment, Shame, and Guilt at Work: Coping

Coping effectively with feelings of embarrassment, shame, or guilt is the path to recovering a sense of balance that's the foundation of clear thinking. And thinking clearly at work is important if you want to avoid feeling embarrassment, shame, or guilt. Available here and by RSS on December 26.

Coaching services

I offer email and telephone coaching at both corporate and individual rates. Contact Rick for details at rbrenXoLnUTuwDSeKQKdwner@ChactGCAEMDPiTBREwhhoCanyon.com or (650) 787-6475, or toll-free in the continental US at (866) 378-5470.

Get the ebook!

Past issues of Point Lookout are available in six ebooks:

• Get 2001-2 in Geese Don't Land on Twigs (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2003-4 in Why Dogs Wag (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2005-6 in Loopy Things We Do (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2007-8 in Things We Believe That Maybe Aren't So True (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get 2009-10 in The Questions Not Asked (PDF, USD 11.95)
• Get all of the first twelve years (2001-2012) in The Collected Issues of Point Lookout (PDF, USD 28.99)

Are you a writer, editor or publisher on deadline? Are you looking for an article that will get people talking and get compliments flying your way? You can have 500 words in your inbox in one hour. License any article from this Web site. More info

Public seminars

The Power Affect: How We Express Our Personal Power

Many people who possess real organizational power have a characteristic demeanor. It's the way they project their presence. I call this the power affect. Some people — call them power pretenders — adopt the power affect well before they attain significant organizational power. Unfortunately for their colleagues, and for their organizations, power pretenders can attain organizational power out of proportion to their merit or abilities. Understanding the power affect is therefore important for anyone who aims to attain power, or anyone who works with power pretenders. Read more about this program.

• A recording of a program presented 6:00 PM June 29 (Eastern Time), Monthly Webinar, Technobility Webinar Series. You can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.