Ego Depletion and Time Pressure Promote Spontaneous Deception: An Event-Related Potential Study

ego depletion time pressure deception P3 amplitudeEvent-related potentials (ERPs) were used to explore the influence of ego depletion on spontaneous deception under time pressure.The Stroop Color-Word test was used to manipulate the participants' ego depletion in the experiment.A visual perception task was employed to assess the participants' deceptive tendency.The results indicated that the ego-depleted group was more prone to engaging deception and induced a larger P3 amplitude than did the nondepleted group.The no-time pressure group was more likely to deceive and induced a larger P3 amplitude than did the high-time pressure group.These results suggest that individuals with sufficient resources for self-control are more likely to resist temptation and less likely to engage in self-serving deception.Higher time pressure made subjects more likely to cheat.Deception is automatic and spontaneous under certain conditions.Ego depletion and high time pressure promote the occurrence of deception.