In the Eyes of Others: Monitoring for Relational Value Cues

Abstract

It was hypothesized that monitoring the social environment for relational value (RV) cues both consumes and depletes self-regulatory resources. Consistent with predictions, the results suggest that regulatory resources are depleted when people monitor for relational cues (Experiments 1 and 2), that the capacity to monitor for complex (vs. simple) forms of relational cues is negatively impacted by prior depletion of the self’s resources (Experiment 3), and that insofar as the self’s resources are depleted by recent acts of self-regulation, people are less effective at monitoring for relational cues (Experiment 4). These findings suggest an integrative relationship between regulatory resources and people’s capacity to accurately monitor the social environment for cues that communicate their RV.