Baumeister (2013) on Ego Depletion and Willpower as a Muscle

Roy F. Baumeister, “Self-Control, Fluctuating Willpower, and Forensic Practice.” Journal of Forensic Practice 15(2): 85-96, 2013.

• Self-control and the ability to meet external standards of behavior depend on a limited resource (willpower) that fluctuates in quantity. 

• Criminals seem to be poor at self-control. But it is not just ne’er-do-wells who succumb to moments of weakness – moments that combine a strong temptation with temporarily low willpower. A hardened criminal and a model citizen might differ by only a few moments of willpower lapses brought on by many potential stresses and hassles. 

• Alcohol is the great unprovoker of self-control, in virtually all dimensions. In part the diminished control occurs by skewing self-monitoring. Alcohol probably doesn’t make someone more aggressive, but it undermines self-constraints when a situation of potential aggression arises. 

• The energy to override impulses is key to self-control, and that energy can be run down: “ego depletion.” Experiments show that exerting willpower in one domain leaves less willpower available to override temptation in another domain. 

• The stock of willpower has a general character; people who have self-control for one task or behavior have it more generally (which is not to say that it cannot be depleted). 

• Energy depletion has physical dimensions. Blood glucose levels fall following the exertion of self-control. Low glucose levels seem to be the basis for low willpower; consuming energy-rich food restores glucose and willpower. [The connection between glucose and willpower remains controversial.] 

• Significant amounts of criminal activity take place in a low glucose state. The poor diet of gang members can undermine their behavior. 

• The immune system uses up lots of glucose when fighting off germs, but not much otherwise. So someone can suddenly see willpower shortfalls even before they know they are sick. 

• Decision making leads to ego depletion! And the relationship is symmetric, in that after you exert self-control, you make bad decisions. 

• Depleted people avoid or postpone decisions, and are bad at compromise; when they make decisions, those decisions tend to be impulsive. 

• Stress harms self-control – even the belief that your life is stressful harms self-control. People who exhibit self-control tend not to be too stressed. Good habits and routines are markers of self-control, and help control stress, too. 

• There seems to be a vicious cycle, whereby poor self-control leads to bad situations which cause stress and further undermine willpower…. 

• Good life outcomes are associated with intelligence and self-control. Increasing intelligence is hard, but self-control can be improved. Building up self-control in an arbitrary way – using your opposite hand to brush your teeth – seems to make more willpower available for meaningful activity… 

• …but people are often motivated to work on self-control for something meaningful, like getting in shape; their exercise will have self-control benefits in many unrelated areas.