Ego Depletion Hampers Logical Reasoning and Monitoring Accuracy: An Experimental Study

Irrespective of much research examining the effects of ego depletion on self-control related measures in social psychology, inadequate attention has been paid regarding whether ego depletion influences on logical reasoning performance. To address this gap, this experimental study randomly assigned Chinese college students (n = 112) to either an ego-depletion or control condition. After manipulating self-control strength through typing words without an e-task, they were instructed to work on logical reasoning questions as well as surveys assessing their cognitive, motivational, and metacognitive processes. The results supported our hypotheses regarding logical reasoning and monitoring accuracy, as depleted students were significantly outperformed by non-depleted students. Furthermore, mental effort was a significant mediator between the ego depletion manipulation and logical reasoning performance. Our findings contribute to the ongoing debate about the existence of the ego depletion effect. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed and more future research is needed.