• DOI:10.1037/0033-2909.126.2.247
• Corpus ID: 10962693

Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: does self-control resemble a muscle?

@article{Muraven2000SelfregulationAD,
  title={Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: does self-control resemble a muscle?},
  author={Mark Muraven and Roy F. Baumeister},
  journal={Psychological bulletin},
  year={2000},
  volume={126 2},
  pages={
          247-59
        }
}

• M. Muraven, R. Baumeister
• Published 1 March 2000
• Psychology
• Psychological bulletin

The authors review evidence that self-control may consume a limited resource. Exerting self-control may consume self-control strength, reducing the amount of strength available for subsequent self-control efforts. Coping with stress, regulating negative affect, and resisting temptations require self-control, and after such self-control efforts, subsequent attempts at self-control are more likely to fail. Continuous self-control efforts, such as vigilance, also degrade over time. These decrements in self-control are probably not due to negative moods or learned helplessness produced by the initial self-control attempt. These decrements appear to be specific to behaviors that involve self-control; behaviors that do not require self-control neither consume nor require self-control strength. It is concluded that the executive component of the self--in particular, inhibition--relies on a limited, consumable resource.