The effect and mechanism of physical exercise on ego depletion in college students

Amid rising academic pressures and heightened job market demands, college students increasingly experience mental health challenges.

This study explores how physical exercise affects ego depletion among college students, using the self-control resource model to understand the underlying processes.

The study included two parts. First, we surveyed 1032 college students (average age: 20.29 years; 592 males, 440 females) to examine the relationships among negative life events, self-control, physical exercise, and ego depletion. In the second part, 104 students (average age: 19.89 years; 54 males, 50 females) participated in a four-week exercise intervention. They completed three 18-minute high-intensity exercise sessions per week, totaling 12 sessions, to assess changes in self-control and ego depletion.

The survey results showed that negative life events were linked to increased ego depletion and lower self-control. Self-control partially explained how negative life events affected ego depletion. Additionally, regular physical exercise reduced the negative impact of stressful life events on self-control, especially at higher levels. The exercise intervention significantly improved students' self-control and reduced ego depletion.

Physical exercise serves as a protective factor that helps students maintain self-control and resist ego depletion under stress. By integrating large-scale survey data with an experimental intervention, this study uniquely provides both correlational evidence and preliminary causal insight into the role of exercise in mitigating ego depletion among college students.