Abstract

The self-regulatory strength model maintains that all acts of self-regulation, self-control, and choice result in a state of fatigue called ego-depletion. Self-determination theory differentiates between autonomous regulation and controlled regulation. Because making decisions represents one instance of self-regulation, the authors also differentiate between autonomous choice and controlled choice. Three experiments support the hypothesis that whereas conditions representing controlled choice would be egodepleting, conditions that represented autonomous choice would not. In Experiment 3, the authors found significant mediation by perceived self-determination of the relation between the choice condition (autonomous vs. controlled) and ego-depletion as measured by performance.

Keywords

Ego depletionPsychologySocial psychologyMediationAutonomyIdego and super-egoSelf-control

MeSH Terms

AdultChoice BehaviorCognitionEgoFemaleHumansMalePersonal AutonomyProblem SolvingSelf Concept

Affiliated Institutions

Related Publications

Publication Info

Year
2006
Type
article
Volume
32
Issue
8
Pages
1024-1036
Citations
527
Access
Closed

External Links

View on DOI.org PubMed

Social Impact

Altmetric
PlumX Metrics

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

527
OpenAlex
364
CrossRef

Cite This

Arlen C. Moller, Edward L. Deci, Richard M. Ryan (2006). Choice and Ego-Depletion: The Moderating Role of Autonomy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 32 (8) , 1024-1036. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167206288008

Identifiers

DOI
10.1177/0146167206288008
PMID
16861307

Data Quality

Data completeness: 81%