A Multilab Replication of the Ego Depletion Effect.
Dang Junhua, Barker Paul, Baumert Anna, Bentvelzen Margriet, Berkman Elliot, Buchholz Nita, Buczny Jacek, Chen Zhansheng, De Cristofaro Valeria, de Vries Lianne, Dewitte Siegfried, Giacomantonio Mauro, Gong Ran, Homan Maaike, Imhoff Roland, Ismail Ismaharif, Jia Lile, Kubiak Thomas, Lange Florian, Li Dan-Yang, Livingston Jordan, Ludwig Rita, Panno Angelo, Pearman Joshua, Rassi Niklas, Schiöth Helgi B, Schmitt Manfred, Sevincer A Timur, Shi Jiaxin, Stamos Angelos, Tan Yia-Chin, Wenzel Mario, Zerhouni Oulmann, Zhang Li-Wei, Zhang Yi-Jia, Zinkernagel Axel
Social psychological and personality science · 2021 · PMID 34113424
There is an active debate regarding whether the ego depletion effect is real. A recent preregistered experiment with the Stroop task as the depleting task and the antisaccade task as the outcome task found a medium-level effect size. In the current research, we conducted a preregistered multilab replication of that experiment.
Data from 12 labs across the globe (N = 1,775) revealed a small and significant ego depletion effect, d = 0.10. After excluding participants who might have responded randomly during the outcome task, the effect size increased to d = 0.16. By adding an informative, unbiased data point to the literature, our findings contribute to clarifying the existence, size, and generality of ego depletion.