A Multisite Preregistered Paradigmatic Test of the Ego-Depletion Effect.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• The ego-depletion effect, a cornerstone of self-control research, posits that exerting self-control reduces capacity for subsequent self-regulation.
• Previous research has yielded mixed results, prompting calls for large-scale, rigorous replications to establish the robustness of this effect.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively assess the size and robustness of ego-depletion effects using a novel multilaboratory replication methodology.
• To provide a definitive test of the ego-depletion hypothesis through preregistered confirmatory analyses.

Main Methods:

• A multilaboratory project involving 36 independent laboratories and 3,531 participants was conducted.
• The paradigmatic replication approach was employed, with each lab implementing one of two self-control manipulation procedures.
• Confirmatory and exploratory analyses, including Bayesian meta-analyses, were used to evaluate the ego-depletion effect size and moderators.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory analyses revealed a nonsignificant ego-depletion effect (d = 0.06).
• Bayesian meta-analyses strongly favored the null hypothesis over the alternative, with data being 4 times more likely under the null.
• Exploratory analyses on the full sample showed a small significant effect (d = 0.08), but Bayesian analyses indicated similar support for null and alternative hypotheses.

Conclusions:

• Preregistered, confirmatory analyses failed to provide evidence supporting the ego-depletion effect.
• The findings challenge the robustness of ego-depletion as a reliable psychological phenomenon.
• Exploratory results suggested fatigue as a potential moderator, warranting further investigation.