Abstract
This study examines the consequences of mindset switching on behavioral choices in want/should conflicts. Building on the insights of the ego depletion literature, we propose that mindset switching depletes individuals’ self-control resources and therefore prompts the choice of want behavior, which provides immediate pleasure, over should behavior, which provides long-term utility. Four laboratory experiments with university students that stimulated individuals to switch mindsets were conducted to test our hypotheses. Experiment 1 demonstrated that switching between individualist and collectivist mindsets increased the subjects’ tendency to prefer popular magazines over scientific journals. Experiment 2 replicated the results by testing the relationship between an abstract/concrete mindset-switching task and want/should online behavioral choices. The mediating effect of ego depletion was also supported. Experiment 3 retested the main effect of language-switching on reading choices, and the mediating effect of ego-depletion. Experiment 3 also tested the moderating effect of the Need for Cognition, and eliminated the alternative explanation of cognitive fatigue. In Experiment 4, actual food choices were used as the direct measure of want/should behaviors to test the robustness of our findings. The results consistently supported our hypotheses that mindset switching has significant effects on behavioral choices in terms of overindulgence, such as increasing want behavior and thus foregoing should behavior.
Highlights
Mindset switching, switching back and forth between different mental states, is a common practice in daily work for most workers
Using the ego depletion theory [10, 11] and established measures of want/should behavior [9, 12], we propose that mindset switching depletes our self-control resources, leading us to choose want behavior over should behavior
We propose that how individuals balance between want/ should behaviors can be explained by the ego depletion theory
Summary
Mindset switching, switching back and forth between different mental states, is a common practice in daily work for most workers. Managers have difficulty concentrating on a single task. Schulte found that typical managers were interrupted or switched tasks, on average, about every three minutes [1]. The Internet provides great distractions for managers and students alike. Uitvlugt, and Fenn found that university students spent a median of 37 minutes per class surfing the Internet for nonacademic purposes [2]. Scholars use the term mindset switching [3], task switching and shifting [4, 5], to describe the behavior of switching between mental tasks
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