Taking a fresh perspective: Vicarious restoration as a means of recovering self-control

a r t i c l e i n f o In the realm of self-regulation, recent work shows that the state of ego depletion can be vicariously transmitted from a target to a perceiver simply by imagining the perspective of a depleted target (i.e., vicarious depletion ; Ackerman et al., 2009). The present study asked whether such vicarious effects can extend to the domain of self-regulatory recovery. In Experiment 1, depleted participants who took the perspective of someone engaging in a restorative activity showed recovered self-control on a later task. Experiments 2 and 3 expanded upon this effect by illustrating that such vicarious self-regulatory processes only emerge if the target is similar to the participant. Taken together, the present studies offer a powerful method by which mental resources can be replenished, and identify one critical boundary condition of its effectiveness., self-control allows us to act in ways that are better for ourselves and for society as a whole. With such practical and personal relevance to our everyday lives, researchers have been greatly interested in the stability of people's self-regulatory capacities across time and context. For over a decade, the depletion model of self-regulation has been one of the most prominent perspectives to consider these questions of self-control. In short, this model proposes that self-control is a limited resource that, when depleted, significantly impairs future self-regulation (Baumeister, Bratslavsky, Muraven, & Tice, 1998). Thus, when people self-regulate their behavior in one situation (e.g., resisting unhealthy food while on a diet), they are less able to self-regulate in a subsequent situation (e.g., inhibiting stereotypes when forming impressions of others). Interestingly, recent work suggests that one need not even engage in a self-regulatory activity to experience ego depletion effects. Borrowing from the burgeoning literature of vicarious mood (e. showed that people can be vicariously depleted of their mental resources simply by imagining the self-control behaviors of another individual. Compared to individuals who took the perspective of a target that engaged in neutral behaviors, participants who took the perspective of a target that resisted his or her impulses showed poorer self-control on a subsequent task. These results imply that it is not the act of perspective-taking and the cognitive effort that act requires which leads to depletion effects; rather, it is the nature of the perspective one takes which has the ability to deplete mental resources. Regardless of its actual or vicarious origins, the …