Self-control and willpower – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

No, willpower isn’t a muscle – here’s a better way to think of it

You’ve probably heard it said that self-control – or what some people think of as willpower – is like a muscle. Use it too much and it gets fatigued, potentially to the point of exhaustion. The idea has become deeply embedded in pop psychology books, productivity blogs and even casual conversations. After a tough day of decision-making, we say we’re ‘mentally drained’, as if we’ve used up some internal energy or worn out our willpower muscle. In psychology this idea is known as ego depletion in reference to the way that acts of self-control supposedly ‘deplete’ an inner store of mental energy. Skipped dessert at lunch? It’ll be harder to resist Netflix instead of working tonight. ….[READ]