6 checked facts

Willpower

Everything on this site about willpower — each one naming the study behind it.

You underestimate how much control you have over your habits.
Research indicates that people who view willpower as a limited resource perform worse on self-control tasks than those…
You are less rational when you are hungry.
The theory that self-control is a limited metabolic resource fueled by blood glucose has been widely challenged and fa…
You overestimate your ability to control your impulses.
The restraint bias is the tendency for people to overestimate their ability to show self-control in the face of tempta…
Your ability to make good choices erodes by evening.
Decision fatigue suggests that quality of judgment declines after repeated choices, a phenomenon famously illustrated …
Your self-control is exhausted by simple mental math.
In a 1999 study, participants who were asked to memorize a seven-digit number were about 1.5 times more likely to choo…
Your ability to make good choices erodes all day.
A 2011 study observed that judges granted fewer favorable decisions as a decision session progressed, with rates retur…