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Receiving Reward’S Effect On Ego-Depletion, Travis Johnson, Michael J. Larson, Phd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recent research suggests that willpower–the capacity to exert self-control–is a limited resource that is depleted after exertion (Job, Dweck & Walton, 2010). We aimed to explore the influence of ego-depletion on how we process rewards and punishment. Ego depletion specifically refers to the idea that self-control or willpower draws upon a limited pool of mental resources that can be used up (i.e., depleted) after cognitive exertion. For example, an experiment performed by Kathleen Vohs and Todd Heatherton (2000) demonstrated how ego depletion was relevant in how it affected chronic dieters compared to non-dieters. Their results showed that dieters, in responding …