EGO RESTORATION A QUEST TO LINK PHSYIOLOGY TO SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

SOCI 229 FINAL PRESENTATION  

NOV. 20th, 2013  TARA VISWANATHAN  

THERE’S LOTS OF RESEARCH ON THE BENEFITS OF   LAUGHTER, SLEEP, AND EXERCISE.

MUCH OF IT RELATING TO THE BRAIN & COGNITIVE FUNCTION

NATIONAL SLEEP FOUNDATION

EVEN MILD PHYSICAL ACTIVITY KEEPS THE BRAIN FIT

& ACTIVE

A 20-30 MIN NAP PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT FOR IMPROVED ALERTNESS & PERFORMANCE.

LAUGHTER CAN IMPROVE ATLERTNESS, CREATIVITY, & MEMORY.

JOHN RATY HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL PSYCHIATRIST

SONDRA KOMBLATT, A BETTER BRAIN AT ANY AGE

NOT SURPRISINGLY, 2 OUT OF THE 3 ARE PROVEN TACTICS TO RESTORE THE EGO POST DEPLETION.

HAHAHA LOL ZZZZZZZZZZ GET YOLKED, BRO

NOT YET PROVEN VIA SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

TAKING A STEP BACK: REMEMBER DUAL PROCESS THEORY? •  SYSTEM 1 VS SYSTEM 2 PROCESSING (REMEMBER THIS?!) •  UNCONSCIOUS VS. CONSCIOUS MIND

•  SYSTEM 1: FAST, UNCONTROLLED, AUTOMATIC, UNCONSCIOUS

•  SYSTEM 2: CONTROLLED, EFFORTFUL, DELIBERATE, INTENTIONAL, SLOWER, CONSCIOUS

•  LIMITED BY WORKING MEMORY CAPACITY •  ELEPHANT & THE RIDER •  AUTOMATICITY •  EXPERIMENTS: SCRAMBLED SENTENCE TASK, DIJKSTERHUIS

APARTMENT

CONCLUSIONS

•  UNCONSCIOUS THOUGHT MAY BE BETTER IN SOME CASES – WE CAN PROCESS MORE INFORMATION MORE RAPIDLY THAN WE CAN WITH CONSCIOUS THOUGHT

•  WE OVERESTIMATE THE DEGREE OF CONSCIOUS AWARENESS & CONTROL

•  HOW IN CONTROL ARE WE REALLY?

BUT IF OUR UNCONSCIOUS MIND IS SO SUCCESSFUL,

WHY DO WE CARE ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE?

“THINGS DONE WITH OUR CONSCIOUS ARE DISPROPORTIONATLY IMPORTANT TO LONG TERM HEALTH, HAPPINESS, AND SUCCESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL.”

WE CANNOT AFFORD TO IGNORE THIS.

•  CRUCIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE SELF INVOLVE VOLITION (MAKING CHOICES & DECISIONS CONSCIOUSLY – SYSTEM 2)

•  OUR UNCONSCIOUS DOES A LOT. BUT ARGUABLY MORE IMPORTANT THINGS ARE DONE WITH OUR CONSCIOUS

•  THE RELATIVELY FEW ACTIVE, CONTROLLING CHOICES BY THE SELF GREATLY INCREASE THE SELF’S CHANCES OF ACHIEVING ITS GOALS

YOU’RE IN CHARGE… BUT ARE YOU REALLY IN CHARGE? CAN YOU BE MORE IN CHARGE?

WE <3 EGO

BUT WHAT’S EGO DEPLETION, AGAIN? THE EGO •  THE CONTROLLING ASPECT OF THE SELF •  THE SELF’S EXECUTIVE FUNCTION •  SYSTEM 2 REGULATING & OVERRIDING SYSTEM 1 •  HAS SOME SORT OF STRENGTH DIMENSION

THE DEPLETION •  TEMPORARY REDUCTION IN THE SELF’S CAPACITY OR

WILLINGNESS TO ENGAGE IN VOLITIONAL ACTION •  THE SELF’S ACTS OF VOLITION DRAW ON SOME LIMITED

RESOURCE (SIMILAR TO STRENGTH/ENERGY) •  ONE CONTROLLING CHOICE WILL TAKE AWAY FROM

SUBSEQUENT CHOICES •  DO TWO VERY DIFFERENT ACTS OF SELF-CONTROL DRAW ON

THE SAME LIMITED RESOURCE? •  CHOCOLATE/RADISH & UNSOLVABLE PUZZLE •  YES!

•  RESTORATION: SLEEP. (I’M SO MOTIVATED IN THE MORNINGS!)

NOT SURPRISINGLY, 2 OUT OF THE 3 ARE PROVEN TACTICS TO RESTORE THE EGO POST DEPLETION.

HAHAHA LOL ZZZZZZZZZZ GET YOLKED, BRO

NOT YET PROVEN VIA SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

“POSITIVE MOOD OR EMOTION CAN

COUNTERACT EGO DEPLETION.”

-TICE et. al, 2005

RESTORING THE SELF: POSITIVE AFFECT HELPS SELF-REGULATION FOLLOWING EGO DEPLETION - Tice, Baumeister (remember this guy?!), Shmueli, Muraven, 2005

•  INITIAL ACT OF SELF-REGULATION (IV) •  NASTY DRINKS •  CROSS OUT 3 (FORM HABIT & BREAK IT) •  WHITE BEAR

•  PARTICIPANTS WATCHED COMEDY VIDEO OR RECEIVED SURPRISE GIFT (IV)

•  THEN MEASURED TASK PERSISTENCE (DV) •  RESULTS:

•  DEPLEATED DID JUST AS WELL AS NON-DEPLETED & SIGNIFICANTLY BETTER THAN PARTICIPANTS WHO EXPERIENCED SAD MOOD INDUCTION, NEUTRAL MOOD INDUCTION, OR BRIEF REST PERIOD

NOT SURPRISINGLY, 2 OUT OF THE 3 ARE PROVEN TACTICS TO RESTORE THE EGO POST DEPLETION.

HAHAHA LOL ZZZZZZZZZZ GET YOLKED, BRO

NOT YET PROVEN VIA SCIENTIFIC METHOD.

QUESTION: CAN

EXERCISE

RECOVER & RESTORE THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTION OF THE SELF?

CAN BETTER HEALTH LEAD TO BETTER SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, MORE HUMAN AGENCY, INCREASED SELF-CONTROL, RESPONSIBLE DECISION MAKING, & ACTIVE CHOICE, VIA EGO RESTORATION?

CAN WE USE EGO DEPLETION THEORY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BETTER HEALTH?  

•  50 PARTICIPANTS, COLLEGE PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS •  RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO:

•  40 INITIALLY DEPLETE EGO (CROSSING OUT E TASK) •  10 DO NOT (CONTROL)

•  40 WITH DEPLETED EGOS RANDOMLY ASSIGNED TO 1 OF 4 CONDITIONS (RESTORATION IV)

•  20 MINS OF EXERCISE •  20 MINS OF POSITIVE AFFECT •  20 MINS OF REST •  20 MINS OF NOTHING (CONTROL)

•  10 WITHOUT DEPLETED EGOS GO STRAIGHT TO DV EGO DEPLETION 2

•  THEN MEASURE TASK PERSISTENCE (DV) FOR ALL 50 PARTICIPANTS

AN EXERCISE IN EGO

[RANDOM ASSIGNMENT INTO CONDITIONS]

A. 10 STUDENTS

B.

10 STUDENTS

50 PRE-VETTED UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT PARTICIPANTS

C.

10 STUDENTS

D. 10 STUDENTS

E. 10 STUDENTS

INITIAL EGO DEPLETION – CROSSING OUT E TASK

A. SLEEP

B. POSITIVE AFFECT

C. EXERCISE

ALL 50 UNDERGO EGO DEPLETION – TASK PERSISTENCE (DV) ON UNSOLVABLE TRACING TASK

NO INITIAL EGO

DEPLETION OR

SUBSEQUENT RECOVERY

D. NO

RECOVERY

AN EXERCISE IN EGO

CONDITIONS:

A. 10 STUDENTS

B.

10 STUDENTS

C.

10 STUDENTS

D. 10 STUDENTS

E. 10 STUDENTS

1.  INITIAL EGO DEPLETION

2. SLEEP RECOVERY

3. FINAL EGO DEPLETION

1.  INITIAL EGO DEPLETION

2. POSITIVE AFFECT RECOVERY

3. FINAL EGO DEPLETION

1.  INITIAL EGO DEPLETION

2. EXERCISE RECOVERY

3. FINAL EGO DEPLETION

1.  INITIAL EGO DEPLETION

2. FINAL EGO DEPLETION

1. FINAL EGO DEPLETION

AN EXERCISE IN EGO

HYPOTHESIS: 20 MINS OF EXERCISE HAS AT LEAST AS MUCH OF AN EGO RESTORATION EFFECT AS 20 MINS OF POSITIVE AFFECT OR 20 MINS OF REST (SLEEP) IF CORRECT: A, B, C, E WOULD SHOW SIMILAR MINUTES OF PERSISTENCE, WHILE CONDITION D SHOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER

•  PARTICIPANT SELECTION •  NUMBER •  FROM WHERE •  DEMOGRAPHIC

•  MANIPULATION CHECKS & EXPERIMENTOR EFFECT •  COVER STORY •  TYPE OF EGO-DEPLETION? •  CONTROLLING EXTRANEOUS FACTORS •  POST-EXPERIMENT QUESTIONAIRE & DEBRIEFING PROBE FOR

SUSPICION

OF COURSE, AS WITH MOST LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS, THERE IS REASON FOR CONCERN IN FINDING EXTERNAL VALIDITY.

CAN WE EXTRAPOLATE?

BUT IF WE CAN…

CAN BETTER HEALTH LEAD TO BETTER SOCIAL INTERACTIONS, MORE HUMAN AGENCY, INCREASED SELF-CONTROL, RESPONSIBLE DECISION MAKING, & ACTIVE CHOICE, VIA EGO RESTORATION?

CAN WE USE EGO DEPLETION THEORY TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF BETTER HEALTH?  

HOW MIGHT THIS AFFECT OUR EVERY DAY LIFE?

•  SLEEP ON IT? RUN ON IT? •  TRUTH TO “CLEARNING YOUR MIND”. •  IMPORTANT SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT – EXERCISE BEFOREHAND? •  MAXIMIZE SLEEP, EXERCISE, AND PLEASURE •  SPREAD OUT SLEEP, EXERCISE, AND PLEASURE •  INTERESTING THAT THE MOST STRESSFUL TIMES ARE WHEN WE

MOST READILY GIVE UP OUR HEALTH •  HAVE WE FOUND REASON TO CHANGE THIS MINDSET?

IDEAS FOR FOLLOW UP RESEARCH.

•  ONE DEPLETABLE RESOURCE, BUT CAN WE STRATEGICALLY RECOVER OUR EGO?

•  EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON HEALTH DECISIONS VS. UNRELATED DECISIONS

THANK YOU!

QUESTIONS?