title: "When the going gets tough, who keeps going?" Depletion sensitivity moderates the ego-depletion effect.
abstract: Self-control relies on a limited resource that can get depleted, a phenomenon that has been labeled ego-depletion. We argue that individuals may differ in their sensitivity to depleting tasks, and that consequently some people deplete their self-control resource at a faster rate than others. In three studies, we assessed individual differences in depletion sensitivity, and demonstrate that depletion sensitivity moderates ego-depletion effects. The Depletion Sensitivity Scale (DSS) was employed to assess depletion sensitivity. Study 1 employs the DSS to demonstrate that individual differences in sensitivity to ego-depletion exist. Study 2 shows moderate correlations of depletion sensitivity with related self-control concepts, indicating that these scales measure conceptually distinct constructs. Study 3 demonstrates that depletion sensitivity moderates the ego-depletion effect. Specifically, participants who are sensitive to depletion performed worse on a second self-control task, indicating a stronger ego-depletion effect, compared to participants less sensitive to depletion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Marketing, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands ; Clinical and Health Psychology Department, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Stefanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Salmon
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Health Psychology Department, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Adriaanse
authors.affiliation: Strategic Communication Chairgroup, Wageningen University Wageningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Emely
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Vet
authors.affiliation: Department of Marketing, University of Groningen Groningen, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bob M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Fennis
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Health Psychology Department, Utrecht University Utrecht, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Denise T D
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: De Ridder
keywords: depletion sensitivity; ego-depletion; individual differences; self-control; self-control endurance