How Depletion Operates in an Integrative Theory of Self-Control

This chapter explains how depletion operates within the conceptual framework of integrative self-control theory (SCT; Kotabe & Hofmann, 2015). SCT is a broad and integrative model of self-control which comprises seven components or “nodes”: desire, higher-order goal, desire–goal conflict, control motivation, control capacity, control effort, and enactment constraints. The interplay of these components results in temptation enactment (“self-control failure”) or temptation nonenactment (“self-control success”). Research on depletion suggests that self-control at Time 1 reduces self-control at a proximate Time 2. What happens between Time 1 and Time 2 is a subject of much debate. We propose that depletion affects effort-related processes via at least three mechanisms: (1) increasing desire strength, (2) decreasing control motivation, and (3) decreasing control capacity. These mechanisms separately increase the likelihood that control effort at Time 2 is insufficient to effectively control temptation. This view suggests that self-control and depletion research would benefit from focusing more on control effort relative to desire strength.