Ego Depletion and Self-Regulation Failure: A Resource Model of Self-Control Roy F. Baumeister Effective self-regulation is an important key to successful functioning in many spheres, and failed self-regulation may be centrally conducive to substance abuse and addiction. The program of research summarized here indicates that self-regulation operates as a limited resource, akin to strength or energy, especially insofar as it becomes depleted after use–leaving the depleted self subsequently vulnerable to impulsive and undercontrolled behaviors (including increased consumption of alcohol). The self’s re- sources, which are also used for decision-making and active responding, can be replenished by rest and positive emotions. Key Words: Ego Depletion, Self-Regulation, Self-Control. S ELF-REGULATION IS AN important key to success in life. Human beings far exceed other animals in the capacity to override their responses, alter their inner states, and in other ways change the course of their behavior. This capacity for self-regulation has allowed human behavior to attain a range of flexibility and complexity that is remark- able. Yet human self-regulation remains limited and some- times ineffective despite its superiority to what other ani- mals have achieved. Just as self-regulation is a key to living successfully in human culture, failure of self-regulation is central to many–in fact, probably the majority– of the problems and difficulties that people encounter. Substance abuse, includ- ing alcohol and drug addiction, constitutes one clear in- stance in which many people feel unable or unwilling to bring their behavior in line with their ideals and standards and people find themselves yielding to problematic im- pulses instead of controlling them. Self-regulation failure is also implicated in sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS; unwanted pregnancy; underachievement in school; crime and criminality; violence, including domestic abuse; eating disorders; obesity; lack of exercise; gambling prob- lems; failure to save money and excessive personal debt; procrastination; cigarette smoking; marital conflict; and many other problems. My interest in self-regulation was stimulated in part by recognition of the central importance of self-regulation in many personal and social problems but also in part by its central relevance to theory of self. Multiple authors have recognized that self-regulation is one of the most crucial and far-reaching aspects of selfhood (Carver and Scheier, 1981; Higgins, 1996). Understanding how the self manages and controls itself is indispensable to any adequate theory of self (Baumeister, 1998). THREE THEORIES OF SELF-REGULATION How does self-regulation operate? Based on a literature review, three types of theories were identified, each of which seemed inherently plausible and has its adherents (Baumeister et al., 1994). The first theory is based on traditional concepts of will- power. It assumes that self-regulation depends on a kind of energy or strength, which is used when the self performs some regulating activity. A tempting impulse may have some degree of strength and so, to overcome it, the self must have an equal or greater amount of strength. A second theory would treat self-regulation as primarily a cognitive process. In this view, the self contains a stock of knowledge about itself and about the environment and so it processes behavioral options by analyzing the situation and determining the correct course of action, which may entail overriding some motivations or other possible courses of action. The third theory treats self-regulation as a skill. Devel- opmental psychologists often view the course of child de- velopment as a matter of acquiring skills and learning to manage oneself may comprise an important set of such skills. From the Department of Psychology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Received for publication November 11, 2002; accepted November 27, 2002. This research was supported by research grant MH 57039 from the Na- tional Institutes of Health. Reprint requests: Roy F. Baumeister, Department of Psychology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1270; E-mail: baumeister@darwin.psy. fsu.edu This manuscript is based on an invited address given at the 2002 RSA Meeting in San Francisco, California. Copyright © 2003 by the Research Society on Alcoholism. DOI: 10.1097/01.ALC.0000060879.61384.A4 0145-6008/03/2702-0281$03.00/0 ALCOHOLISM:CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH Vol. 27, No. 2 February 2003 Alcohol Clin Exp Res, Vol 27, No 2, 2003: pp 281–284 281