title: Ego depletion and positive illusions: does the construction of positivity require regulatory resources?
abstract: Individuals frequently exhibit positive illusions about their own abilities, their possibilities to control their environment, and future expectations. The authors propose that positive illusions require resources of self-control, which is considered to be a limited resource similar to energy or strength. Five studies revealed that people with depleted self-regulatory resources indeed exhibited a less-optimistic sense of their own abilities (Study 1), a lower sense of subjective control (Study 2), and less-optimistic expectations about their future (Study 3). Two further studies shed light on the underlying psychological process: Ego-depleted (compared to nondepleted) individuals generated/retrieved less positive self-relevant attributes (Studies 4 and 5) and reported a lower sense of general self-efficacy (Study 5), which both partially mediated the impact of ego depletion on positive self-views (Study 5).
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. pfischer@psy.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Tobias
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Greitemeyer
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Frey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction