Start Date
April 2025
Location
2nd floor - Library
Abstract
Individuals’ exertion of self-control may lead to ego depletion, a psychological concept suggesting that people have a finite amount of self-control (Wang et al., 2017). The current research examines if ego depletion affects (i.e., reduces) individuals’ prosocial behavioral intentions (study 1) and/or their likelihood to engage in prosocial behavior (study 2). The current project also examines if the effect of ego depletion on prosocial outcomes is moderated by participants’ moral identity. After providing informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (high depletion, low depletion, control), where they were asked to write continuously for at least five minutes. Participants were either restricted from using the letters A or N (high depletion), X or Z (low depletion), or did not have letter restrictions (control) during the writing task. After completing one of the writing tasks, participants were presented with a self-report questionnaire assessing their prosocial behavioral intentions (study 1) or two optional short answer questions that would presumably help the researchers with future work (study 2). The results revealed that having a strong moral identity was associated with greater prosocial intentions and behavior. Additionally, although ego depletion condition did not affect individuals’ prosocial intentions, individuals who exerted the greatest self-control—in the high ego depletion condition—were less likely to engage in prosocial behavior. Finally, the interaction between moral identity and ego depletion was not significant. The present studies suggest that high ego depletion may reduce people’s self-control behavior, yet they are unaware of such depletion.
The Effect of Ego Depletion on Prosocial Behavior
2nd floor - Library
Individuals’ exertion of self-control may lead to ego depletion, a psychological concept suggesting that people have a finite amount of self-control (Wang et al., 2017). The current research examines if ego depletion affects (i.e., reduces) individuals’ prosocial behavioral intentions (study 1) and/or their likelihood to engage in prosocial behavior (study 2). The current project also examines if the effect of ego depletion on prosocial outcomes is moderated by participants’ moral identity. After providing informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (high depletion, low depletion, control), where they were asked to write continuously for at least five minutes. Participants were either restricted from using the letters A or N (high depletion), X or Z (low depletion), or did not have letter restrictions (control) during the writing task. After completing one of the writing tasks, participants were presented with a self-report questionnaire assessing their prosocial behavioral intentions (study 1) or two optional short answer questions that would presumably help the researchers with future work (study 2). The results revealed that having a strong moral identity was associated with greater prosocial intentions and behavior. Additionally, although ego depletion condition did not affect individuals’ prosocial intentions, individuals who exerted the greatest self-control—in the high ego depletion condition—were less likely to engage in prosocial behavior. Finally, the interaction between moral identity and ego depletion was not significant. The present studies suggest that high ego depletion may reduce people’s self-control behavior, yet they are unaware of such depletion.
