The Effects of Ego Depletion and Emotional Intelligence on Risk-Taking

Ego depletion theory postulates that the ability to exert self-control depends upon the availability of a limited mental resource. In this experiment, we investigated the effects of ego depletion on risky decision-making. We also examined the moderating effect emotional intelligence may have on this relationship. First, participants completed a trait emotional intelligence questionnaire and a self-control task. This was followed by a mood questionnaire and a series of risky-decision scenarios. Results showed (1) participants who were depleted made more risky decisions than non-depleted participants, (2) no differences in perceived task effort between groups, (3) no evidence of a moderating effect for emotional intelligence and (4) depleted participants were more aroused and their moods were more negative than non-depleted participants. Taken together, these results imply that ego depletion enhances the inclination to take risks and that decisions involving risks should not be made under these conditions. THE EFFECTS OF EGO DEPLETION 4 The Effects of Ego Depletion and Emotional Intelligence on Risk-Taking As most people can attest, it is often quite difficult to avoid immediate, or persistent behaviors in order to follow rules, get along with others or achieve long-term goals. Such actions generally require the exertion of self-regulatory resources (Muraven, 2011). An extensive body of research suggests that an individual’s self-control capacity fluctuates and can be easily depleted by short actions of self-control such as changing a mood state or inhibiting thoughts, which results in a state of diminished resources or ego depletion (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1996). Prior research has focused primarily on the consequences of ego depletion. Findings indicate that a deterioration of self-control resources makes people less focused on long-term goals or plans (Langhe, Sweldens, Van-Osselaer, & Tuk, 2009). Therefore, people tend to behave more impulsively in an attempt to alleviate urges or desires which may result in potentially destructive behaviors such as increased alcohol consumption, drug use, sexual indiscretion, impulsive spending or overeating (Langhe et al., 2009). In this paper, we adopt a dual-process framework which suggests that decision-making is a joint function of both a rational and emotional information-processing system (van Gelder, de Vries, & van der Pligt, 2011) to investigate how the availability of self-control resources or ego strength is related to risk seeking or risk aversion. Furthermore, we investigate how emotional intelligence the ability to perceive, understand and use emotions to assist in decision-making influences behavioral outcomes when in a state of ego depletion. Many decisions require sophisticated strategies which consume time and cognitive resources (Pohl, Erdfelder, Hilbig, Liebke, & Stahlberg, 2013). Therefore, better understanding how ego depletion operates will allow us to determine how a person is able to override a potentially negative response or THE EFFECTS OF EGO DEPLETION 5 decision, in favor of a safer, more adaptive and practical decision when insufficient cognitive resources are available. Self-Control Strength Research concerning self-control failure has suggested that self-control is vulnerable to deterioration and thus worsens over time. Much like a muscle that becomes fatigued after prolonged exercise, exerting self-control causes future attempts at self-control to suffer. Such a depletion model is often contrasted with a skill model of self-control. Skill models predict that self-control should not be directly affected by the demands of a previous task (Muraven, 2011). However, extensive research has strongly suggested that the depletion model is the best fit for observed data on self-control (Heatherton & Baumeister, 1996). The basic approach to testing the depleted-resource model involves a dual task paradigm. This paradigm incorporates the use of two unrelated self-control tasks, whereby self-control is measured at two different time points. Poorer performance on a subsequent self-control task as evidenced by decreased persistence and frustration is often used as an indicator of diminished resource capacity (Hagger, Wood, Stiff, & Chatzisarantis, 2010). For example, Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, and Tice (1998) found that only five minutes of resisting the temptation of eating cookies and forcing oneself to consume radishes reduced persistence on a set of difficult puzzles from 21 to 8 minutes. Further evidence for the depleted-resource model was provided by Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice (2007) who demonstrated that while watching an emotionally evocative film, attempting to suppress one’s emotional responses caused a decrease in performance on a test of physical stamina. Handgrip strength was used as a measure of self-control because it involved resisting the urge to quit due to fatigue. Hand strength was measured both before and after affect regulation to control for variations in strength. This effect has also been relatively consistent THE EFFECTS OF EGO DEPLETION 6 across different spheres and domains of depletion. Each of these studies asserts that the first selfcontrol task consumed and depleted a cognitive resource and was, therefore, less available to aid performance on the second self-control task. It has been suggested by Muraven and Baumeister (2000) that engaging in self-control draws upon a resource called self-control strength or ego strength. The amount of ego strength one possesses is critical to any attempt at self-control and is not used for any other activity except self-control. After engaging in repeated activities requiring self-control, people have less ego strength and are said to be in a state of ego depletion. As noted in several studies, the observed depletion effects do not appear to be a function of perceived self-efficacy, mood or arousal (Baumeister et al., 1998; Fischer, Kastenmuller, & Asal, 2012). In short, the observed decline in self-control performance after exercising self-control appears to be directly related to the amount of self-control exerted and cannot be better explained by other psychological processes such as frustration, irritation or boredom. Outcomes of Depletion Consistent with the strength model of self-control, the most obvious consequence of depletion is a loss of self-control (Baumeister, 2002). As previously mentioned this effect has carried over to many different domains. For instance, in a series of experiments examining the impact of ego depletion on aggressive behaviors, Stucke and Baumeister (2006) showed that depleted participants were more willing to give into aggressive impulses. More specifically, depleted participants judged the experimenters more negatively as indicated by retaliatory and potentially damaging evaluations of the experimenters. Depletion of ego strength has also been found to affect both implicit and explicit attitudes towards alcohol consumption. To this end, Muraven, Collins, and Nienhaus (2002) found that after controlling one’s thoughts, social THE EFFECTS OF EGO DEPLETION 7 drinkers consumed greater amounts of alcohol despite incentives to refrain from doing so when compared to social drinkers who were asked to solve difficult math problems that did not require self-control. Furthermore, ego depletion has also been found to affect smoking behavior, impulsive spending, overeating and the regulation of sexual urges (Gailliot & Baumeister, 2007; Vohs & Faber, 2007). Furthermore, it has been shown that depleted individuals demonstrated an increase in approach motivation and were more reward-seeking than nondepleted participants (Giacomantonio, Jordan, Fennis, & Panno, 2014). Additionally, Schmeichel and Harmon-Jones (2010) also demonstrated that depleted individuals displayed increased approach motivation. That is, they focused more on reward-relevant stimuli and less on reward-irrelevant stimuli. Ego depletion could, therefore, lead to poorer self-control by strengthening impulses toward reward and undermining inhibition. As would be expected, depletion appears to affect various aspects of cognition. Basic cognitive processes affected by depletion are considered to require higher executive function. For example, depleted individuals tend to do worse than non-depleted individuals on tests of logic and reasoning as well as tests of reading and arithmetic competency. Due to these observed changes in cognitive functioning, it stands to reason that decision-making is also affected by depletion, given that one of the most important cognitive resources necessary for making good decisions is self-control. In general, it appears that depleted individuals take more risks, make worse decisions, and fail to consider all decision alternatives as well and as thoroughly as nondepleted individuals (Freeman & Muraven, 2010). In the section that follows, a brief overview of the dual-process model of decision-making will be discussed. THE EFFECTS OF EGO DEPLETION 8 The Dual-Process Model Many decision theories assume that people decide on a particular course of action by making a mental calculation that incorporates the probability of the decision outcome with an evaluation of the success of these outcomes (Gelder, De Vries, & Pligt, 2009). When making risky decisions, however, Kahneman and Tversky (1982) suggest that people combine the perceived severity or possible consequences of an outcome of a decision with the perceived probability of its occurrence. More recent literature has also started to address the prominent role that affect plays when making risky decisions. For example, Slovic, Fincane, Peters, and MacGregor (2004) propose that decision-making is a function of two different informationprocessing systems: an analytic or “rational” system which utilizes normative rules, calculations of probability, formal logic, reasoning, and risk assessment; and an experiential or “affec