SynthesisPsychological research2018
An updated meta-analysis of the ego depletion effect.
Synthesis in Psychological research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04879719 (The Influence of Ego-depletion on Implicit Aggression and Cognitive Performance), which is not on this map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Influence of Ego-depletion on Implicit Aggression and Cognitive Performance
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Can Self-Regulatory Strength Training Counter Prior Mental Exertion? A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in public health · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Prior Cognitive Exertion on Physical Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2020Pooled it
- Cognitive fatigue did not significantly influence youth's total energy intake or snack food consumption during a randomized trial.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Trial
- Testing the ego-depletion effect in optimized conditions.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Testing the validity of the attention control video: An eye-tracking approach of the ego depletion effect.PloS one · 2019Trial
- From internal timing to external clock-checking: the impact of ego depletion on dual-path attention in TBPM and the precise remediation by reminders.Psychological research · 2026Article
- Executive dysfunction and impulsivity in adolescence: a cross-lagged panel network analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Ego depletion, compensatory health beliefs, and healthy food choice in Chinese university students: a two-wave longitudinal study.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Oculomotor response inhibition and distractor suppression following prior self-control exertion in athletes.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Article
- Cognitive effort increases the intensity of rewards.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Working memory and inhibitory control deficits in children with ADHD: an experimental evaluation of competing model predictions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Self-control enhances vigilance performance in temporally irregular tasks: an fNIRS frontoparietal investigation.Frontiers in neuroergonomics · 2024Article
- Emotional self-regulation and personality in the light of Thomas Aquinas's philosophical anthropology.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Ego depletion and implicit and explicit determinants of condom use intentions: an experimental study among young men.Open research Europe · 2023Article
- Editorial: Effort-based decision-making and cognitive fatigue.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Article
- Does willpower mindset really moderate the ego-depletion effect? A preregistered replication of Job, Dweck, and Walton (2010).PloS one · 2023Article
- Educational contexts that nurture students' psychological needs predict low distress and healthy lifestyle through facilitated self-control.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2022Article
- Exploring Potential Schedule-Related and Gender Biases in Ophthalmology Residency Interview Scores.Journal of academic ophthalmology (2017) · 2022Article
- Toward controlling of a pandemic: How self-control ability influences willingness to take the COVID-19 vaccine.Personality and individual differences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The ego depletion effect is one of the most famous phenomena in social psychology. A recent meta-analysis showed that after accounting for small-studies effects by using a newly developed method called PET-PEESE, the ego depletion effect was indistinguishable from zero. However, it is too early to draw such rushing conclusion because of the inappropriate usage of PET-PEESE. The current paper reported a stricter and updated meta-analysis of ego depletion by carefully inspecting problems in the previous meta-analysis, including new studies not covered by it, and testing the effectiveness of each depleting task. The results suggest that attention video should be an ineffective depleting task, whereas emotion video should be the most effective one. Future studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of each depletion task revealed by the current meta-analysis.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.