“When the going gets tough, who keeps going?” Depletion sensitivity moderates the ego-depletion effect

Frontiers in Psychology

Stefanie J. Salmon¹ 

关键词: ego-depletion;    depletion sensitivity;    self-control;    self-control endurance;    individual differences;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00647

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Self-control relies on a limited resource that can get depleted, a phenomenon that has been labeled ego-depletion. We argue that individuals may differ in their sensitivity to depleting tasks, and that consequently some people deplete their self-control resource at a faster rate than others. In three studies, we assessed individual differences in depletion sensitivity, and demonstrate that depletion sensitivity moderates ego-depletion effects. The Depletion Sensitivity Scale (DSS) was employed to assess depletion sensitivity. Study 1 employs the DSS to demonstrate that individual differences in sensitivity to ego-depletion exist. Study 2 shows moderate correlations of depletion sensitivity with related self-control concepts, indicating that these scales measure conceptually distinct constructs. Study 3 demonstrates that depletion sensitivity moderates the ego-depletion effect. Specifically, participants who are sensitive to depletion performed worse on a second self-control task, indicating a stronger ego-depletion effect, compared to participants less sensitive to depletion.

【 授权许可】

CC BY