How Ego Threat Can Effect Self-Regulation

The concept of self-regulation, by the average individual may be thought of more in the terms of impulse control. Every individual faces the daily challenge of controlling one’s impulses in response to a multitude of different social situations, such as at work, in the classroom, or in the privacy of one’s own home. Self-regulation is a process that many individuals may not be aware that they employ the use of in everyday social situations. However, self-regulation is not only used to regulate one’s response to situations, but also may influence whether or not one enters into various situations (Baumeister, Heatherton & Tice, 1993). A common situation where the use of self-regulation may be employed would be in the presence of an ego-threatening situation. The term ego threat is defined as any event or communication having unfavorable implications about the self (Baumeister, Heatherton & Tice, 1993). In other words, an event, which could be interpreted as a possible ego threat would be any event from which the individual may experience an end result of unfavorable tangible, emotional, or psychological consequences.

A study conducted in 1993 by Roy F. Baumeister, Todd F. Heatherton, and Dianne M. Tice focused on events in which ego threats lead to self-regulation failure and examined the negative consequences for individuals with high self-esteem. For the purpose of this paper, I am not concerned specifically with the self-regulation failure consequences for individuals with high self-esteem per se, but more focused on how the findings can be related to how ego threat can affect self-regulation as an entity. The results of Experiment 1 in this study concluded that high self-esteem individuals experience self-regulation failure w...

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...1993, the self-regulation failure is evident through the loss of focus on other assignments. Based on the evidence for self-regulation depletion in the 1998 study, the self-regulation depletion is evident through the decrease of the ability to successfully manage one’s emotions. The results of the two studies combined provide supporting evidence for self-regulation failure and self-regulation depletion as well as a better understanding of the Self.

Works Cited

Baumeister, R. F., Heatherton, T. F., & Tice, D. M. (1993). When ego threats lead to self- regulation failure: negative consequences of high self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(1), 141-156.

Muraven M., Tice, D. M., & Baumeister, R. F. (1998). Self-control as a limited resource: regulatory depletion patterns. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(1), 774-789.