Ego Depletion
The idea that self-control or willpower draws upon a limited pool of mental resources that can be used up. There have both been studies to support and to question the validity of ego-depletion as a theory.
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Origin
Named by psychologist Roy Baumeister and colleagues Mark Muraven and Dianne Tice at Case Western Reserve University, the term appeared in a 1998 paper in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Their "radishes and chocolates" experiment showed that participants who resisted eating chocolates gave up sooner on subsequent puzzles. Baumeister deliberately borrowed Freud's term "ego" to suggest a mental resource that drains with use. A landmark 2016 preregistered multi-lab replication study, however, failed to confirm the effect.
Updated February 22, 2026