Hostname: page-component-89b8bd64d-x2lbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-10T06:00:17.026Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is ego depletion too incredible? Evidence for the overestimation of the depletion effect

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2013

Evan C. Carter  and
Michael E. McCullough
Evan C. Carter
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124-0751. mikem@miami.edu evan.c.carter@gmail.com
Michael E. McCullough
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124-0751. mikem@miami.edu evan.c.carter@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The depletion effect, a decreased capacity for self-control following previous acts of self-control, is thought to result from a lack of necessary psychological/physical resources (i.e., “ego depletion”). Kurzban et al. present an alternative explanation for depletion; but based on statistical techniques that evaluate and adjust for publication bias, we question whether depletion is a real phenomenon in need of explanation.

Information

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 683 - 684
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Muraven, M. & Tice, D. M. (1998) Ego depletion: Is the active self a limited resource? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74(5):1252–65. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.5.1252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, E. C. & McCullough, M. E. (submitted) Publication bias and the limited strength model of self-control: Has the evidence for ego depletion been overestimated? Google Scholar
Egger, M., Davey Smith, G., Scheider, M. & Minder, C. (1997) Bias in meta-analysis detected by a simple, graphical test. British Medical Journal 316:629–34.Google Scholar
Hagger, M. S., Wood, C., Stiff, C. & Chatzisarantis, N. L. D. (2010a) Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin 136(4):495–525. doi:10.1037/a0019486.Google Scholar
Ioannidis, J. P. A. & Trikalinos, T. A. (2007) An exploratory test for an excess of significant findings. Clinical Trials 4:245–53.Google Scholar
Moreno, S. G., Sutton, A. J., Ades, A. E., Stanley, T. D., Abrams, K. R., Peters, J. L. & Cooper, N. J. (2009) Assessment of regression-based methods to adjust for publication bias through a comprehensive simulation study. BMC Medical Research Methodology 9:1–17.Google Scholar
Moreno, S. G., Sutton, A. J., Thompson, J. R., Ades, A. E., Abrams, K. R. & Cooper, N. J. (2011) A generalized weighting regression-derived meta-analysis estimator robust to small-study effects and heterogeneity. Statistics in Medicine 31:1407–17.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, M. S. (2005) The file-drawer problem revisited: A general weighted method for calculating fail-safe numbers in meta-analysis. Evolution 59:464–68.Google Scholar
Schimmack, U. (2012) The ironic effect of significant results on the credibility of multiple-study articles. Psychological Methods 17(4):551–66. doi: 10.1037/a0029487.Google Scholar
Stanley, T. D. (2008) Meta-regression methods for detecting and estimating empirical effects in the presence of publication selection. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics 70:103–27.Google Scholar
Sutton, A. J. (2009) Publication bias. In: The handbook of research synthesis and meta-analysis, ed. Cooper, H., Hedges, L. & Valentine, J., pp. 435–52. Russell Sage Foundation.Google Scholar