Outsiders’ Thoughts on Generating Self-Regulatory-Depletion (Fatigue) Effects in Limited-Resource Experiments

Abstract

We offer thoughts pertaining to purported conceptual and replication crises that have been discussed in relation to the limited-resource model (LRM) of self-control, functioning as crisis outsiders who have been conducting related research concerned with determinants and cardiovascular correlates of effort. Guiding analyses in our laboratory convey important lessons about experimental generation of the now-classic LRM self-regulatory-fatigue effect on control. They do so by drawing attention to conditions that must be met in fatigue-induction and fatigue-influence phases of relevant experiments. One fundamental lesson is that even highly standardized fatigue-induction protocols cannot be expected to consistently allow definitive tests of this effect. Another is that the effect might emerge consistently only in a behavioral-restraint “sweet spot” of sorts—a multidimensional motivational space wherein rested study participants view restraint as possible and worthwhile and fatigued participants do not. Implications are identified and discussed.

Beyond depletion: Daily self‐control motivation as an explanation of self‐control failure at work

“…However, our results do not suggest abandoning resource notions altogether but moving toward a shift in perspective. As an alternative to seeing resource shortages as the cause of self‐control failure, it may be that available self‐control resources influence the maximal self‐control someone could exert (Wright, Mlynski, & Carbajal, 2019). Because in daily life several goals (e.g., leisure and family) compete with the general goal to perform well at work (Louro, Pieters, & Zeelenberg, 2007), it is unlikely that persons are fully motivated to exhaust their entire self‐control capacity for protecting their performance at work.…”

“…Because we modeled self-control resource depletion at the begin- However, our results do not suggest abandoning resource notions altogether but moving toward a shift in perspective. As an alternative to seeing resource shortages as the cause of self-control failure, it may be that available self-control resources influence the maximal self-control someone could exert (Wright, Mlynski, & Carbajal, 2019).…”

The effect of ego depletion or mental fatigue on subsequent physical endurance performance: A meta-analysis

“…Thus, mental effort appears to carry an intrinsic disutility (Kool & Botvinick, 2018) and effort is only mobilized when the goal is subjectively worth it (Gendolla & Richter, 2010). In addition, effort mobilization directly corresponds to task difficulty (Wright, Mlynski, & Carbajal, 2019), implying a restrain to mobilize effort in excess (Richter, Gendolla, & Wright, 2016). Going back to the example of the marathon runner: If the only goal is to qualify for the Olympics (i.e., no other incentives like price money or a personal record play a role), the runner should only run as fast as needed to qualify.…”

A Schema-Activation Approach to Failure and Success in Self-Control

“…Another unsolved point is the role of fatigue in the ego depletion phenomenon. Recent considerations on fatigue and ego depletion (Wright, 2014;Wright et al, 2019) miss the crucial point. In this work, the same problem exists as with the strength model of self-control, because it does not become clear what the fatigue actually is.…”