Energy and Psychology

The current work is a review of recent findings on energy. Ego depletion, or decreases in self-control caused by prior use, has been found in the areas of sex, aggression, helping, death thought, social norms, crime, emotion regulation, self-views, and passivity. Hunger impaired self-control, and eating restored it. Self-control uses large amounts of bloodstream glucose and brain glycogen and is impaired when these metabolites are low. Minor reductions in oxygen use reduced the number of conscious thoughts that people had. Energy is limited, and energy use by one process can divert it from others.