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Scarcity
The brain’s store of willpower is depleted when people control their thoughts, feelings or impulses, or when they modify their behavior in pursuit of goals. Psychologist Roy Baumeister and others have found that people who successfully accomplish one task requiring self-control are less persistent on a second, seemingly unrelated task.
In one pioneering study, some people were asked to eat radishes while others received freshly baked chocolate chip cookies before trying to solve an impossible puzzle. The radish-eaters abandoned the puzzle in eight minutes on average, working less than half as long as people who got cookies or those who were excused from eating radishes.
From the NYTimes with some good advice on test taking, dieting and how to increase your will power over time.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on April 3, 2008 at 02:15 PM in Science | Permalink
Comments
I like radishes.
Posted by: greatzamfir at Apr 3, 2008 2:48:38 PM
I didn't read the study: how do the researchers control for the possiblility that there isn't something in the chococlate chip cookies that subsequently increases willpower, directly or indirectly?
-Kevin
Posted by: Kevin Postlewaite at Apr 3, 2008 3:13:58 PM
I always suspected that radishes might be screwing up my brain.
Of course, if the puzzle is truly impossible, then conceivably the radish eaters may have discovered that much sooner than the cookie gluttons.
Posted by: John Dewey at Apr 3, 2008 3:14:17 PM
Kevin asks a good question and indeed without commenting the next bit in the NYTimes article points out that sugar consumption can increase willpower!
Alex
Posted by: Alex Tabarrok at Apr 3, 2008 3:43:31 PM
very interesting article. explains why i always go shopping after an exam...
Posted by: Finja at Apr 3, 2008 3:49:08 PM
Now every kid in America can print out this study and hand it to Mom.
Chocolate chip cookies are good for you!
Posted by: Yancey Ward at Apr 3, 2008 4:02:52 PM
Real life application in negotiations: Drain your opponent by having him fight over something you are prepared to give up on. After his will is expended on this, hit him on what you really want.
Posted by: pawnking at Apr 3, 2008 4:05:08 PM
I'm not sure if looking at the results in terms of willpower is the correct tack at all. What if chocolate chip cookies just make you happy, and therefore less likely to be frustrated with the puzzle? The radish group could very easily have been thinking (subconsciously or consciously) "first the radishes, and now this stupid puzzle! I quit!"
I haven't read the whole study, so I apologize if they somehow controlled for this.
Posted by: d.cous. at Apr 3, 2008 4:21:32 PM
"Store of willpower"? Good lord.
In what cells is that willpower stored, I wonder? Or is it an organ?
The pineal gland, no doubt.
Posted by: Anderson at Apr 3, 2008 5:12:25 PM
I want that stuff in a bottle, presumably so that I might cast spells longer, or something.
Posted by: perianwyr at Apr 3, 2008 5:48:06 PM
Kevin, they do not control for that possibility in that study, but there's plenty of evidence that what's going on is not cookie-specific, in the form of about a hundred other depletion studies with various tasks (this is not hyperbole). Other tasks that have been shown to produce impairments on subsequent tasks include:
- thought suppression
- suppressing emotions
- exaggerating emotions
- ignoring distractions
- speaking without saying "um" or "er"
- presenting yourself modestly to a stranger
- presenting yourself boastfully to a friend
- the Stroop task
- taking an exam
Posted by: anon at Apr 4, 2008 12:04:25 AM
Radishes tell the brain that it is starving, so that it should direct the body to seek out chocolate chip cookies rather than humor researchers by working on problems.
Seriously, though: I have no sweet tooth to speak of, so I like radishes more than cookies anyway.
Posted by: Tony at Apr 4, 2008 2:16:20 AM
This study proves whatever you want it to prove. The puzzle was impossible to solve, right? That means either radishes decrease your willpower (or it remains the same compared to the cookies' influence), or they increase your sense of reality; whereas cookies either decrease your ability to accept reality, or they increase your willpower. Either way, radishes are definitely healthier. "Winners never quit, quitters never win, but those who never win and never quit are idiots."
Posted by: Tim at Apr 4, 2008 2:31:03 AM
"Store of willpower"? Good lord.
In what cells is that willpower stored, I wonder? Or is it an organ?
The pineal gland, no doubt.
No, not the pineal gland -- 'will power' depends on the inhibitory capacity of the frontal lobes.
When you overwork particular muscles, they become fatigued and less powerful and it becomes painful to try to push them beyond that point. If you try to concentrate on a tedious, demanding task for long enough, does it not become difficult (and painful) to try to keep your focus? Doesn't your efficiency decline? If, after such an effort, you were given a difficult puzzle, wouldn't you be more likely to abandon the effort earlier?
Making yourself do something you'd rather not (or, more commonly, preventing yourself from doing something you'd like to do) requires mental effort of the same kind as focusing on a demanding task. And there's a limit to how much of this kind of effort anyone can expend. So it's a limited resource -- and I don't think it's too misleading to refer to it as 'will-power'.
Posted by: Slocum at Apr 4, 2008 8:08:45 AM
When you overwork particular muscles, they become fatigued and less powerful and it becomes painful to try to push them beyond that point.
Nerve cells are not muscle cells.
I very much doubt that we understand nearly enough about "willpower" to attribute physical characteristics to it such that we could refer to a "store" of it.
I am able to inhibit myself 24/7/365.25 from sex with 16-year-olds, with no perceptible effort whatsoever, despite the fact that many 16-year-old girls are indeed sexually attractive.
OTOH, I find it difficult to drive the speed limit or slower.
I doubt that there are different "willpower" levels in my brain as regards these two issues.
Posted by: Anderson at Apr 4, 2008 10:01:51 AM
Actually, Kevin's concern is addressed in one of the Baumeister studies. There was a third group that got no cookies. They persisted about as long as the cookie group. So in this particular case blood glucose was not a limiting factor. However, it's an excellent point.
Posted by: SW at Apr 4, 2008 10:55:05 AM
Actually, Kevin's concern is addressed in one of the Baumeister studies. There was a third group that got no cookies. They persisted about as long as the cookie group. So in this particular case blood glucose was not a limiting factor. However, it's an excellent point.
Posted by: SW at Apr 4, 2008 10:55:25 AM
Nerve cells are not muscle cells.
No, they are not. But nor are they electronic circuits that can crank away 24/7/365 without loss of efficiency. Anyone with a normal brain is aware that the phenomenon of mental fatigue exists.
I am able to inhibit myself 24/7/365.25 from sex with 16-year-olds, with no perceptible effort whatsoever, despite the fact that many 16-year-old girls are indeed sexually attractive.
Yes, well I'm guessing that attractive 16-year-old girls are not continually wandering through your environment asking to have sex with you. I think most people find it requires little effort to resist temptations that are not actually present.
Posted by: Slocum at Apr 4, 2008 12:41:05 PM
So willpower is limited? That's interesting. In some ways that's good to know. People can take that information and apply it to their daily lives. They'll be more efficient. On the other hand, in some ways it's not so good to know. People will use that information to rationalize not doing things they should.
It's an incomplete study with many other variables and many other ways to look at the situation. Nevertheless, or rather, because of this, it would be good for these scientists to perform more studies on willpower. Maybe they'll discover a way to make America less apathetic.
Heh, had you going for a minute, didn't I? Seriously though, it'd probably be a good idea anyway.
Posted by: Anon at Apr 10, 2008 12:23:59 PM
