Premium
Self‐Regulation, Ego Depletion, and Motivation
Author(s) -
Baumeister Roy F.,
Vohs Kathleen D.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
social and personality psychology compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.699
H-Index - 53
ISSN - 1751-9004
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00001.x
Subject(s) - ego depletion , psychology , id, ego and super ego , social psychology , personality , context (archaeology) , set (abstract data type) , self control , order (exchange) , resource (disambiguation) , computer science , paleontology , computer network , finance , economics , biology , programming language
Motivation is underappreciated in self‐regulation theories (as is true in social personality psychology at large). This paper reviews the role of motivation in the context of the strength, or limited‐resource, model of self‐control in several domains. Sacrificing one desire in order to pursue another is more difficult when the incipient response is strongly motivated, a notion that highlights the struggle between urges and restraints. A reduction in ego resources can be temporarily overcome by strong motivation – nevertheless, ego depletion is not solely a loss of motivation: Recent experiments indicate that regulatory resources are rooted in physical energy stores. Motivational conflicts, especially the clash between selfish motives and behaviors that promote social acceptance, set the stage for the necessity of self‐regulation and the circumstances in which ego depletion is most likely.