Term
Ego depletion
The idea that self-control draws on a shared store of strength, and that the store shrinks after each effort. Replication studies from the 2010s onward have cast doubt on how strong this effect really is.
Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results, Stephen Guise
Explained in
- Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results, Stephen Guise
- Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, Nir Eyal
The hypothesis that willpower is used up like fuel and runs out with effort. The experiments behind it later failed to replicate well, and Eyal argues against it.
- What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, Laura Vanderkam
Roy Baumeister's hypothesis that self-control can tire under strain, like a muscle. Later large-scale checks didn't always confirm it, and it's disputed today.
- The Willpower Instinct, Kelly McGonigal
The hypothesis that self-control consumes a limited resource and tires like a muscle. Large tests after the book appeared cast serious doubt on it.