Willpower Ch: 4

Decision Fatigue

• Decision fatigue impairs willpower, affecting various aspects of life.
• Ordinary sensible people exhibit poorer judgment when fatigued.
• Cognitive exertion depletes mental resources, affecting subsequent decisions and self-control.

Types of Decisions and Mental Processes

• Automatic processes: Effortless mental actions like basic math.
• Controlled processes: Requiring mental effort and willpower (e.g., complex calculations, decisions).
• Rubicon model of action phases: Describes the mental steps in decision-making: Pre-decisional (contemplating possible outcomes), decision (crossing the Rubicon), and post-decisional (implementation).

Experiments on Decision Fatigue

• Wedding registry experiment: Demonstrated that depleting willpower with decisions made participants more susceptible to immediate gratification.
• Computer configuration experiment: Showed that making decisions, especially complex ones, diminishes self-control.
• Mall experiment: Demonstrated that shoppers who experienced decision-making fatigue in stores exhibited reduced willpower on tasks outside the stores.
• Israeli parole board decisions: Research showed that judges were more likely to grant parole to prisoners presented early in their workday, and less likely later in the day. Judge's decisions were systematically influenced by time of day, reflecting the impact of decision fatigue. The mid-morning snack break and lunch break correlated to improved parole decisions. Consistent with the impact of glucose levels.

Impact of Choice Availability

• Too many options: Decision fatigue is exacerbated by having excessive choices. Online dating and shopping experiences demonstrate this clearly.
• Ease of choice vs. difficulty: Decisions are more taxing when options are less appealing, and when many options require careful consideration.
• Choosing for others vs. oneself: Choosing for a stranger is less tiring than making decisions that directly impact oneself.
• Lack of immediate reward avoidance: The "fear of loss" leads people to maintain options even if it is financially unsustainable.

Short-term vs Long-term Rewards

• Now-or-later choices: People often choose immediate rewards over larger, delayed ones when their willpower is depleted.
• Factors influencing short-term choices: Presence of attractive visuals (especially women), and mental/emotional states

Implications across domains

• Business: Clever marketers leverage decision fatigue by positioning desirable products (e.g., luxury goods) at moments when a buyer's attention and willpower are low.
• Relationships: Picking a romantic partner is significantly affected by decision fatigue, with some making excessively careful and picky choices for a potential partner while facing many options.
• Legal systems: Justice systems are affected, with judges' rulings affected by the time of day and the previous decisions impacting decision-making for the day.