Abstract
Exertion of self-control requires reliance on ego resources. Impaired performance typically results once those resources have been depleted by previous use. Yet the mechanism behind the depletion processes is little understood. Beliefs, motivation, and physiological changes have been implicated, yet the source behind these remains unknown. We propose that implicit may form the fundamental building blocks that these processes rely upon to operate. Implicit affective responses to energy may trigger management of ego resources after depletion. Findings suggest that inhibitory trait self-control may interact with the depletion effect, indicating the importance of taking individual differences in chronic availability of ego-resources into account. After depletion, individuals high in trait self-control may be less motivated to conserve remaining resources than those low in self-control. This mechanism may also help explain the conservation of resources observed when expecting multiple tasks requiring self-control.
Highlights
People pay attention to objects that will help them reach their goals
The investigation of how cues toward energy resources are processed may help to answer some questions about the nature of conservation of self-control resources, as well as help to illuminate how exerting selfcontrol leads to a subsequent decline in self-control performance
We examine the role of implicit affective cues about energy in management of ego resources
Summary
People pay attention to objects that will help them reach their goals. Extensive research has found that people process, notice, and attend to information that is goal related (e.g., Ferguson and Bargh 2004; Locke and Latham 2002). Goal-related stimuli are evaluated more positively than non-goal related stimuli after a goal had been activated (Ferguson and Bargh 2004). The present research examines how individuals who have depleted their self-control capacity process information about energy. Based on recent research on limited resource model of self-control (Hofmann et al 2009), when pursuing a goal that requires self-control, energy-related cues may be more highly valued than non-energy related cues. Studies have shown that ego depletion automatically activates approach motivation toward attractive objects (Schmeichel et al 2010)
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