Abstract

Ego depletion, the finding that initial exertion of self-control hinders performance on subsequent self-control tasks, has become a controversial topic. There have been discrepant results from empirical studies and different conclusions drawn from meta-analyses and multilab studies. We examined ego depletion and three potential moderators in a preregistered experiment using a within-subjects design in order to overcome limitations of the standard between-subjects design. In two sessions separated by 1 week, participants (N = 214) completed an ego depletion or control version of a Stroop task. Each Stroop task was followed by manipulation check questions and an antisaccade task. Participants also completed measures of lay theory of willpower, trait self-control, and action orientation. There was no significant evidence for ego depletion, and Bayes factors strongly favored the null hypotheses that there was no difference in antisaccade performance (accuracy or response time) after ego depletion and control Stroop tasks. Additionally, lay theory willpower, trait self-control, and action orientation were not significantly related to ego depletion effects. Exploratory between-subjects comparisons that omitted participants who responded at lower than chance accuracy levels, however, found significant ego depletion effects. These results provide further evidence that ego depletion effects are elusive.

摘要

自我耗竭，即最初的自我控制能力会阻碍后续自我控制任务的表现，已成为一个有争议的话题。实证研究得出了不一致的结果，荟萃分析和多实验室研究得出了不同的结论。我们使用受试者内设计在预先注册的实验中检查了自我消耗和三个潜在的调节者，以克服标准受试者间设计的局限性。在相隔 1 周的两次会议中，参与者（N = 214) 完成了 Stroop 任务的自我消耗或控制版本。每个 Stroop 任务之后是操作检查问题和反扫视任务。参与者还完成了意志力、特质自我控制和行动取向的外行理论测量。没有显着证据表明自我耗竭，贝叶斯因子强烈支持无效假设，即在自我耗竭和控制 Stroop 任务后反眼跳性能（准确性或响应时间）没有差异。此外，外行理论意志力、特质自我控制和行动取向与自我耗竭效应没有显着相关性。然而，探索性的受试者间比较忽略了回答低于机会准确度水平的参与者，但发现了显着的自我消耗效应。