Why Are Self-Report and Behavioral Measures Weakly Correlated?

Accumulating evidence indicates weak correlations between self-report and behavioral measures of the same construct. We suggest these weak correlations result from poor reliability of many behavioral measures and distinct response processes involved in the two measurement types. We also describe how researchers can benefit from appropriate use of these measures

Personality, lifestyle and job satisfaction: causal association between neuroticism and job satisfaction using Mendelian randomisation in the UK biobank cohort

Is there prejudice from thin air? Replicating the effect of emotion on automatic intergroup attitudes

A Multilab Replication of the Ego Depletion Effect

There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregistered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium-level effect size. In the current research, we conducted a preregistered multilab replication of that experiment. Data from 12 labs across the globe ( N = 1,775) revealed a small and significant ego depletion effect, d = 0.10. After excluding participants who might have responded randomly during the outcome task, the effect size increased to d = 0.16. By adding an informative, unbiased data point to the literature, our findings contribute to clarifying the existence, size, and generality of ego depletion.

The Beauty of the Zero: Replications and Extensions of the Hidden-Zero Effect in Delay Discounting Tasks

Unlike the presentation format in a typical delay discounting task (e.g., “Would you prefer [A] US$4.3 today OR [B] US$7.5 in 22 days?”), Magen et al. inserted a zero to each alternative (e.g., “Would you prefer [A] US$4.3 today and US$0 in 22 days OR [B] US$0 today and US$7.5 in 22 days?”) and found this manipulation effectively reduced delay discounting ( d = .84), which was referred to as the hidden-zero effect. Study 1 was a direct replication of this effect. In Study 2, we tested whether the explicit-zero format could buffer against the detrimental effect of exposure to sexy cues on delay discounting. In Study 3, we explored the mechanism underlying the hidden-zero effect. Taken together, the hidden-zero effect was consistently found across all studies ( N = 2,440) and our internal meta-analysis yielded a medium to large effect size ( d = .52).

Time to Set a New Research Agenda for Ego Depletion and Self-Control

An updated meta-analysis of the ego depletion effect

Commentary: The effects of acute stress on core executive functions: A meta-analysis and comparison with cortisol

Self-control depletion impairs goal maintenance: A meta-analysis

Is there an alternative explanation to the evolutionary account for financial and prosocial biases in favor of attractive individuals?

AbstractAll three critical points of the evolutionary explanation proposed by Maestripieri et al. may not withstand close scrutiny. Instead, there should be an alternative explanation that has nothing to do with genetic continuity, but stresses the rewarding property of attractiveness that results mainly from sociocultural value assignment and sexual experience pursuit.

The Ego Could Be Depleted, Providing Initial Exertion Is Depleting

Abstract. The ego depletion effect has been examined by over 300 independent studies during the past two decades. Despite its pervasive influence, recently this effect has been severely challenged and asserted to be a fake. Based on an up-to-date meta-analysis that examined the effectiveness of each frequently used depleting task, we preregistered the current experiment with the aim to examine whether there would be an ego depletion effect when the Stroop task is used as the depleting task. The results demonstrated a significant ego depletion effect. The current research highlights the importance of the depleting task’s effectiveness. That is to say, the “ego” could be “depleted,” but only when initial exertion is “depleting.”

Further Support for the Motivational Explanation of Self-Other Similarity Judgment Asymmetry

Abstract. Self-other similarity judgment asymmetry refers to the tendency of people to judge others to be more similar to themselves than they judge themselves to be similar to others. This effect can be explained with both a cognitive model ( Tversky, 1977 ) and a motivational explanation ( Codol, 1987 ). Recent research has provided initial evidence for the core assumption of the motivational explanation and tested a hypothesis that can only be derived from the motivational explanation. The present study aims to provide further evidence for the motivational explanation by testing another hypothesis derived from it that goes beyond the cognitive model. Our results show that participants with a strong need for uniqueness tended to exhibit self-other asymmetry, but only with respect to attributes that were difficult to falsify.

Commentary: A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect

Individual differences in dopamine level modulate the ego depletion effect

When the poor excel: Poverty facilitates procedural learning

Testing the role of glucose in self-control: A meta-analysis

A new account of the conditioning bias to out-groups

Similarity as threat: A motivational explanation of self-other similarity judgment asymmetry

Commentary: “Poverty impedes cognitive function” and “The poor's poor mental power”

Escalate shamefully, de-escalate angrily or gratefully: The influence of discrete emotions on escalation of commitment

Action orientation overcomes the ego depletion effect

When More Depletion Offsets the Ego Depletion Effect

The ego depletion effect has been consistently replicated using the typical paradigm that consists of two consecutive tasks. However, striking contradiction exists in studies employing multiple tasks. The aim of the current study is to replicate previous studies following a similar procedure and design in a sample of participants from a non-western cultural background (Chinese), while strictly controlling other confounding factors, such as task duration. Results indicated that although ego depletion occurred after performing a single initial self-control task, engaging in multiple tasks did indeed offset the depletion effect. These findings are contrary to the resource-based view of ego depletion (i.e., the strength model) but more consistent with other theoretical frameworks, such as the cognitive control theory.

Self-control depletion is more than motivational switch from work to fun: the indispensable role of cognitive adaptation

Adapting to an initial self-regulatory task cancels the ego depletion effect

The Role of Individualism-Collectivism in the Individual Creative Process