Where There's a Will, There's a Way: Implementing Motivational Strategies to Combat Decision Fatigue

Recent research suggests we have a limited supply of willpower, termed the “ego”, which becomes depleted by undergoing cognitively demanding tasks. Any acts of volition, including decision-making, self-control, and taking responsibility, reduce this supply of “ego” (Baumeister, 1998), which impedes our ability to further perform these tasks. Decision fatigue, a specific form of ego depletion, is prevalent everywhere from judicial court cases (Danzinger, Levav, & Avnaim-Pesso, 2010) to our daily lives. There is now significant mainstream media exposure and literature on decision fatigue and the activities to which it applies. However, it remains contested how to best handle its negative consequences. The purpose of this paper is to examine methods of addressing the adverse effects of ego depletion, particularly related to motivation. Running head: COMBATING DECISION FATIGUE 5 Introduction Whether in our daily lives or occupations, we are all faced with a multitude of decisions each day. Do you put on a white shirt or a blue shirt today? What items do you get at the supermarket? Which project should you get started on first? At first glance, these may seem like inconsequential daily actions, with little potential for further examination. However, research suggests there is a limited storage of willpower that can be depleted by making all these choices. In fact, this effect extends to any cognitively demanding task, which draw upon the same resource. By completing these tasks each day, no matter how small, we gradually deplete our temporary capacity for further tasks. Background Research Ego depletion. Before examining the concept of decision fatigue, it is important to examine the root of the issue: ego depletion. A couple decades prior, the notion of a depletable supply of “ego” did not exist in scientific circles. Ego depletion primarily deals with acts of volition, which includes making decisions, taking responsibility, initiating behavior, and executing actions. These actions are critical because they are necessary in our daily lives and shape the world around us. On a large scale, a deficiency of these actions contributes to many prevalent global issues, including “addiction, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, eating disorders and binges, unwanted pregnancy, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, debt and bankruptcy”, among others (Baumeister, 2002). Research on this topic has also presented a number of significant empirical findings on an individual level, including “depletion effects on information processing, intellectual performance, impression management, and violent responses to provocation by a partner” (Job et al., 2010). The fact that ego depletion has been linked to such a wide variety of examples gives an idea of its far-reaching impact. Running head: COMBATING DECISION FATIGUE 6 In order to understand the rationale behind introducing ego depletion, it is essential to present a snapshot of psychology during this time period (the late 90’s). Before this time, psychologists had considered humans to be mostly autonomous beings, exerting “planful or deliberate control by the self” (Baumeister et al., 1998). That is, they believed each decision was made consciously and that people had full agency over what influenced their decisions. Most research conducted involved conscious actions, and little thought was given to the effect of unconscious processes on humans. However, recent research strongly suggests that these these processes can have a substantial effect, particularly on acts of volition. The primary concept behind ego depletion is that these actions all draw on some form of resource, much like physical strength or energy. Individuals deplete this resource by undergoing acts of volition, and fewer amounts of this resource results in a decreased capacity to further undergo these actions. Social psychologist Roy Baumeister coined this effect as ego depletion, named loosely after Freud’s concept of the ego. Just like the Freudian concept, Baumeister’s ego is linked to self-regulation and logical decision-making. Ego depletion is formally defined by Baumeister as “a temporary reduction in the self’s capacity or willingness to engage in volitional action (including controlling the environment, controlling the self, making choices, and initiating action) caused by prior exercise of volition. ” (Baumeister, 1998). It is important to specify that the adverse effects of ego depletion are temporary; by undergoing these tasks every day we are not causing permanent damage to our brains. The idea of ego depletion was pioneered by Baumeister and his colleagues in a pilot study examining its effect on individuals’ cognitive performance. The goal of this study was to figure out whether different acts of volition would “undermine self-regulation in a subsequent, unrelated domain, namely persistence at a difficult and frustrating task” (Baumeister, 1998). If Running head: COMBATING DECISION FATIGUE 7 the initial tasks indeed affected the unrelated later task, it would suggest that all of these acts of cognition relied on the same resource. In the study, three groups of participants were assigned to tasks that involved exerting self-control, taking responsibility, and suppressing emotions, respectively. They were then asked to solve a series of puzzles, which is a cognitively demanding task. The study found that each of the three actions decreased performance on the subsequent task, compared to the control group. When participants underwent any of these actions before performing the main task, they not only performed poorly but also gave up up sooner than the others. These results show that these acts of volition significantly affect cognitive performance and are interrelated, which creates an important bridge for the rest of this discussion. Decision fatigue. It is an often cited statistic that the average individual makes 35,000 decisions a day (Hoomans, 2015). Although this is very likely an exaggerated number, there is no denying that we make countless decisions every day. Before examining the problem of decision fatigue, it is important to define what constitutes a decision. For the purposes of this paper, a decision is defined as “the making up of one’s mind on any point or course of action” (Sahakia & LaBuzetta, 2013). This is a very lax criteria to fit, which means a great number of instances in daily life qualify as decisions. Some may argue that this definition is too permissive, and includes too many insignificant actions. However, that is exactly the point: each of these cognitive actions, no matter how minor, contribute to a gradually decreased “ego”. Logically, individuals should make the optimal decision in each situation to best benefit themselves and others. Traditional psychology would agree with this line of thinking; for a long time, the field of psychology has focused on the individual as a perfectly logical decision-maker. However, we find that this is seldom the case. Humans often make illogical decisions, some of Running head: COMBATING DECISION FATIGUE 8 which can have disastrous consequences. This applies to not only the average individual, but also some of the most highly trained professionals in the world. Why does this happen? Whereas Baumeister’s pilot study examined ego depletion as an effect caused by exerting self-control and taking responsibility, this effect reaches far beyond these two tasks. Notably, it applies to decisions we make every single day, no matter how inconsequential they seem. One must remember that Baumeister and his colleagues claimed ego depletion applies to any act of volition, in other words a cognitively demanding task. Before examining why decisions contribute to ego depletion, it is crucial to define the threshold that makes a task cognitively demanding. According to psychologists, there are two primary types of mental processes: automatic and controlled. Controlled processes require logical reasoning and drain this supply of “ego”. Automatic processes, on the other hand, typically involve rote memory and can be accomplished without significant exertion (Baumeister & Tierney, 2011). As one might imagine, applying logical reasoning to new situations is far more taxing than simply recalling information. This distinction has large real-world implications. Whereas some occupations rely primarily on muscle memory (professional sports), others require constant use of cognition in uncertain situations (law enforcement). This is important because it completely changes the magnitude of decision fatigue people are faced with each day, and subsequently changes the optimal approach for addressing the issue. The idea that each decision contributes to a depleted ego has created an entire new subfield: decision fatigue. Because it is a controlled process, decision-making has a similar draining effect as other cognitive processes, such as exerting self-control or taking responsibility. The more decisions we make in a period of time, the lower capacity we will have for making Running head: COMBATING DECISION FATIGUE 9 further decisions. This is the effect that causes everyone, even trained professionals, to make questionable decisions at times. Among the most prominent empirical examples of decision fatigue is judicial parole boards. This example is particularly interesting because it involves highly experienced judges making decisions. Granting parole is a cognitively demanding task due to the multitude of risks and factors involved. Several times a day, these judges have to make the tough decision on whether to grant parole to the prisoner. By granting parole, judges appease the prisoner’s family and save taxpayers some money. However, they also risk the defendant proceeding to commit another crime after their release (Baumeister & Tierney, 2011). Rejecting the parole appeal is the far “safer” option, as it prevents a potentially dangerous individual from re-entering socie