Ego Depletion
Updated 2026-08-08
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Proposed by Roy Baumeister and colleagues, ego depletion holds that self-regulation depends on a limited pool of psychological resources, so a sequence of demanding acts of control temporarily exhausts the capacity for further self-control. The metaphor is muscular fatigue: exertion depletes and rest restores. Later meta-analyses found the effect much smaller than first reported and questioned the depletion metaphor, so the model is best treated as a budgeting heuristic rather than an established mechanism.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Budget the energy: place the tasks needing most self-control in your strongest hours. - Reduce the decisions: use habits and defaults so fewer choices consume control. - Avoid the exposure: stay away from temptations during depleted periods instead of resisting them.
Anchor fast decisions
Every act of overriding an impulse or forcing attention onto an unpleasant task draws on the same regulatory capacity, and that capacity is temporarily reduced by use. Subsequent self-control therefore fails more easily, which shows up as impulsive choices later in the day. The pattern is real even if the original explanation of a depleting resource remains disputed.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_depletionverified
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