Why Mental Exhaustion Makes You Antisocial
Our daily behaviors are affected by all kinds of internal and external influences. We like to think of ourselves as having good self-control, but this has its limits. It often only takes a moment of hunger or frustration to turn what would normally be a friendly smile into an aggressive snap.
The idea that self-control is a limited and depletable resource has been controversial in the last few years, with studies producing inconsistent results. But research continues to find that our capacity for self-control can be drained by certain types of exhaustive mental effort. The nuances around what types of activity most deplete self-control and how this depletion actually impacts our behavior are less certain.
One new study has looked into self-control depletion in the context of aggressive behavior. It examines how fatigue affects brain function, and how those changes in brain function impact our social choices. The findings provide an interesting new perspective on the real-life risks of allowing ourselves to get mentally exhausted.
The neural and behavioral effects of mental fatigue
In a 2024 study published in PNAS, researchers recruited 44 participants and split them into two groups, with each group completing a set of cognitive tasks:
