Abstract
This study examined the effects ego depletion (ED) and state anxiety (SA)have on performance changes in dart-throwing, a perceptual-motor task, using a Latent Curve Model (LCM). Twenty-two men, who had never played darts before, were recruited and randomly assigned to two counterbalanced groups: Group A was exposed first to ED and then to non-ED (NED), and Group B was exposed first to NED and then to ED. We found that the number of trials had a non-linear effect on darts performance, which improved as the number of trials increased before declining again; that is, mean radial error decreased first and then increased. Therefore, motor performance was sustained in the form of a quadratic curve as the number of task executions increased. In general, the higher the degree of ED and SA, the greater the negative effect on performance. However, this phenomenon was observed only in the early-phase trials, and the interacting influence of ED and SA appeared in the late-phase trials. Thus, this study demonstrated that ED and SA have direct effects on performance curves in early-phase trials only, and that their interacting influence appears in late-phase trials.
Highlights
Self-control is the capacity to change one’s response based on own ideals, values, morals, social expectations, or long-term goals (Baumeister et al, 2007)
As analyses of variance (ANOVA) can be used when the independent variable is a categorical variable and the dependent variable is a continuous one, a typical method of analysis is to distinguish the group whose anxiety is manipulated from the control group, to examine the effects on performance
ANOVAs are limited because they do not account for individual differences; they lead researchers to assume that the manipulation of anxiety affects all participants in the group
Summary
Self-control is the capacity to change one’s response based on own ideals, values, morals, social expectations, or long-term goals (Baumeister et al, 2007). According to the strength model, the strength necessary to perform any action is a finite selfcontrol resource; when in a state of ED, it is difficult to execute actions and behaviors that require self-control resources, as the self-control resource is depleted (Baumeister et al, 1994, 1998). If the upper limit is reached, which leads to complete depletion of the self-control resource, a state of ED commences, which makes it impossible to use the self-control resource; the resource recovers over time, Ego-Depletion, State Anxiety and Performance Changes and is available again at a later time point. ED refers to a state in which the self does not have all the resources that it normally has and renders the self temporarily less able and less willing to function normally or optimally (Baumeister and Vohs, 2007)
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