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Mechanisms of Self-Control Failure: Motivation and Limited Resources

University at Albany muraven{at}albany.edu

Elisaveta Slessareva

University at Albany

Research has found that individuals who are lower in self-control strength because of previous self-control exertions perform more poorly on subsequent tests of self-control. The present studies suggest that this effect may be moderated by motivation. In particular, depletion and motivation jointly determine self-control performance. Individuals who were depleted and believed that the task would help others (Experiment 1) or believed that their efforts could benefit them (Experiment 2) performed better on a subsequent test of self-control than individuals who were depleted and lower in motivation. The results of Experiment 3 replicated these findings and suggested that depletion only affects performance on tasks that require self-control; tasks that are difficult but do not require self-control are immune to the effects of depletion. Hence, depleted individuals may compensate for their lack of self-control resources when sufficiently motivated. The results may help explain the nature of self-control strength.

Key Words: self-control • motivation • depletion • recourses

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 29, No. 7, 894-906 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167203029007008


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