The Science of Self-Discipline: The Willpower, Mental Toughness, and Self-Control to Resist Temptation and Achieve Your Goals (Live a Disciplined Life Book 1)

by Peter Hollins

Psychologist Roy Baumeister of Case Western Reserve University conducted a study in 1996 measuring the phenomenon of what’s known as willpower depletion. He gathered 67 study participants in a room with freshly baked cookies and other sweet confections, as well as some bitter radishes. Some lucky participants were allowed to indulge in the sweet treats, while the subjects in the experimental condition were asked to eat only the radishes—they had to exercise their willpower. Unsurprisingly, the radish-eaters were less than pleased. Once they had been subjected to enough temptation as deemed by the research group, the participants went to a new location and were given a persistence-testing puzzle as a supposedly unrelated task. The effects of the forced willpower exercise were clear. The participants who had eaten only radishes made far fewer attempts at solving the puzzle and gave up in less than half the time relative to those who had been allowed to eat the sweets. Their willpower was depleted—exhausted—and they were ready to just take the path of least resistance.