| Abstract: | Self-control failure is all too common. Research has found that people become less likely to engage self-control after expending self-control on a prior task. Theories of self-control have surmised that this disengagement stems from a temporary depletion of inner resources or from shifts in motivation and attention toward more rewarding activities. In two complementary studies I tested competing hypotheses regarding the aftereffects of self-control on participants⁰́₉ willingness to expend effort to earn rewards on a subsequent task. The resource model predicted less effort after a prior effortful task, whereas the motivational view predicted more effort, particularly if more effort yields rewards. These studies also explored how exerting effort on one task interacts with reward magnitude, reward probability, and time on task to influence effort for rewards on a succeeding task. Participants first completed either a more effortful writing task or a less effortful writing task. Then they completed a second task requiring them to choose whether to complete an easier task for smaller rewards or a harder task for larger rewards. The reward task required participants to exert bouts of either physical effort (Experiment 1) or mental effort (Experiment 2). In neither experiment did the prior effort manipulation reliably influence subsequent effort expenditure for rewards. By examining choices to engage in effort to earn rewards, this research aimed to help arbitrate between competing theories of self-control and shed light on how effort and rewards interact to influence behavior. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/198152 |
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