Erratum to “Motivation, personal beliefs, and limited resources all contribute to self-control”

a r t i c l e i n f o What effects do motivation and beliefs have on self-control? We tested this question using a limited resource paradigm, which generally has found that people show poor self-control after prior exertions of self-control. Recent findings have suggested that motivation and even belief in unlimited willpower can render persons immune to ego depletion. We replicated those findings, but also showed they are limited to cases of mild depletion. When depletion is extensive, the effects of motivation and subjective belief vanished and in one case reversed. After performing only one self-control task, the typical pattern of self-regulation impairment was ameliorated among people who were encouraged to regard willpower as unlimited (Experiment 1) or motivated by task importance (Experiment 2). Those manipulations failed to improve performance among severely depleted persons who had done multiple self-control tasks. These findings integrate ideas of limited resources, motivation, and beliefs in understanding the nature of self-control over time. Is self-control a matter of managing a limited energy supply or does it depend more on subjective beliefs and motivations? The purpose of the present research was to assess the contributions of motivation, mindsets, and limited resources in self-control. One current model says that self-control is best understood as a limited resource that becomes drained with use. In support of this model, studies have shown that after people exert self-control, they perform worse on other self-Other research suggests self-control might be caused more by beliefs, motivation, or mindsets than limited resources. For instance, Schmeichel and Vohs (2009) found that pondering personal values offset the negative effects of depletion. Denson, Jacobson, von Hippel, Kemp, and Mak (2012) found that believing that one has ingested caffeine reduces aggressive responding after depletion. Muraven and Slessareva (2003) showed that offering incentives can overcome depletion, which some have taken to suggest that depletion is not an energy deficit but simply a lack of motivation. Job, Dweck, and Walton (2010) measured and manipulated beliefs, and showed that people who believed in unlimited willpower were immune to ego depletion. They provocatively proposed that ego depletion is " all in your head, " in effect being a self-fulfilling prophecy due to the possibly mistaken belief that willpower is limited. The present research addressed the question of motivation and personal beliefs by integrating the findings of Job et al. (2010) and Muraven and Slessareva (2003) with the broader …