Mechanisms of self-control failure: Motivation and limited resources
Muraven and Slessareva tested whether motivation changes the known finding that people who have already exerted self-control perform worse on a later test of it. Across three experiments, depleted participants who believed the task would help others, or would benefit themselves, performed better on a later self-control test than depleted participants with lower motivation. The third experiment also found that depletion affected only tasks that require self-control, not tasks that are merely difficult. The authors conclude that depleted people may compensate for lost resources when sufficiently motivated.
Muraven and Slessareva tested whether motivation changes the known finding that people who have already exerted self-control perform worse on a later test of it. Across three experiments, depleted participants who believed the task would help others, or would benefit themselves, performed better on a later self-control test than depleted participants with lower motivation. The third experiment also found that depletion affected only tasks that require self-control, not tasks that are merely difficult. The authors conclude that depleted people may compensate for lost resources when sufficiently motivated.
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Muraven, M., & Slessareva, E. (2003). Mechanisms of self-control failure: Motivation and limited resources. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(7), 894-906. doi:10.1177/0146167203029007008