Testing the Effects of a Preceding Self-Control Task on Decision-Making in Soccer Refereeing

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sports Science
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Self-control is crucial for accurate judgment and decision-making.
• Understanding factors influencing self-control is vital in performance contexts like sports.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the effect of momentary self-control strength on accuracy in a sports-related judgment and decision-making task.
• To test the hypothesis derived from two-process models that ego depletion leads to heuristic processing and lower accuracy.

Main Methods:

• 27 participants rated the veracity of soccer players' statements (truthful or deceptive).
• Self-control strength was manipulated using the Stroop task, creating conditions of depleted and available self-control.
• Participants completed the task twice, with conditions counterbalanced and separated by 7 days.

Main Results:

• The momentary level of self-control strength did not significantly affect participants' accuracy rates in judging the veracity of statements.
• Contrary to the two-process models' predictions, ego depletion did not lead to lower accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The findings do not support the hypothesis that depleted self-control strength impairs judgment accuracy in this specific sports-related task.
• Further research is needed to explore the complex relationship between self-control, cognitive processing, and decision-making accuracy in applied settings.