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The Influence of Ego-depletion on Implicit Aggression and Cognitive Performance

Primary Purpose

Aggression

Status
Unknown status
Phase
Not Applicable
Locations
Germany
Study Type
Interventional
Intervention
Ego-depletion
Control
Sponsored by
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
About
Eligibility
Locations
Arms
Outcomes
Full info

About this trial

This is an interventional basic science trial for Aggression focused on measuring ego-depletion, implicit aggression, word-stem completion task, implicit association task

Eligibility Criteria

18 Years - 55 Years (Adult)All SexesAccepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion Criteria:

  • being mentally healthy
  • German as native language
  • being between 18-55 years in age

Exclusion Criteria:

  • working in a medical profession

Sites / Locations

  • University Clinic Hamburg-EppendorfRecruiting

Arms of the Study

Arm 1

Arm 2

Arm Type

Experimental

Active Comparator

Arm Label

Ego-depletion group

Control group

Arm Description

Participants in this condition are asked to suppress their emotion while watching an emotional video of a surgery. Suppressing the natural emotional reaction to such a video demands cognitive resources and thus can induce a state of ego-depletion.

Participants in the control group are asked to watch the same emotional video. However, they are required to simply watch the video without suppressing any emotions.

Outcomes

Primary Outcome Measures

Word-stem completion task
In the word-stem completion task participants are presented with up to 100 word-stems in random order. The participants' task is to build as many words as possible within sic minutes by complementing the word-stems. Solution words can be either aggressive, partially aggressive or non-aggressive. Sum scores for all aggressive and partially aggressive solutions are built as a first index of implicit aggression. First results from the German version of the word-stem completion task, however, indicate that a score taking into account the number of total solutions, as well as the word frequencies in the German language is better suited to measure implicit aggression than the conventional sum score method. Therefore, the new weighted score will be used as main outcome variable.
Implicit Association Test (IAT) for aggression
The IAT is a speeded classification task, which seeks to measure the inner strength of associations between certain concepts. During the IAT words are presented at the center of the screen and participants are asked to categorize stimuli either to the left or to the right based on the instructions of the respective block. IAT scores are obtained by comparing reaction times between blocks in which participants have to press the same button in response to aggressive as well as self-referential words with reaction times from blocks in which peaceful and self-referential words require the same response. If participants respond faster on trials in which aggressive and self-referential words require the same response this is thought to reflect higher levels of implicit aggression.
Multi-source interference task (MSIT)
The MSIT is thought to measure cognitive control and cognitive performance in general. On each trial three items are presented next to each other at the center of the screen, with two of them being identical and one deviating from the others. Participants are asked to identify the number that differs from the other two presented items (mostly numbers) and to press the corresponding key on the keyboard. The position and the actual number can either be the same, e.g. the number 2 presented in between two other numbers or letters (so-called flankers), in which we speak of congruency or number and position can be incongruent, for instance the number 2 presented left to

Secondary Outcome Measures

Full Information

First Posted
May 3, 2021
Last Updated
May 3, 2021
Sponsor
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
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1. Study Identification

Unique Protocol Identification Number
NCT04879719
Brief Title
The Influence of Ego-depletion on Implicit Aggression and Cognitive Performance
Official Title
The Influence of Ego-depletion on Implicit Aggression and Cognitive Performance
Study Type
Interventional

2. Study Status

Record Verification Date
May 2021
Overall Recruitment Status
Unknown status
Study Start Date
February 17, 2021 (Actual)
Primary Completion Date
May 17, 2021 (Anticipated)
Study Completion Date
May 17, 2021 (Anticipated)

3. Sponsor/Collaborators

Responsible Party, by Official Title
Sponsor
Name of the Sponsor
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

4. Oversight

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product
No
Data Monitoring Committee
No

5. Study Description

Brief Summary
The aim of the planned online study is twofold. First, it opts to deliver further evidence for the existence of the construct ego-depletion. Second, it tries to further validate the German version of the word-stem completion task as a measure of implicit aggression. The psychological assessment of aggression is not a trivial aspect, however. In general, explicit measures of aggression have a higher face validity than their implicit counterparts. However, even implicit measures, such as the implicit association test for aggression, have a certain amount of face validity, since participants might be able to infer that the task is related to aggression. Another implicit aggression measure is the word-stem completion task, which asks participants to complement word-stems in order to build words. Lately, we have developed a German version of this task and found some promising first results, i.e., a factor analysis indicated that the word-stem completion task explained unique variance in aggression. The present study aims to further validate the German version of the word-stem completion task by experimentally manipulating aggression through an ego-depletion paradigm, in which cognitive resources are depleted. It is expected that participants in the ego-depletion condition build more aggressive solutions on the word-stem completion task than participants in the control group.
Detailed Description
Almost every one of us knows the experience of falling short of one's own resolutions, despite having the intention to behave differently. In dual-process models human behavior is proposed to be a result of reciprocal activity of an impulsive and a reflective system with the impulsive system being fast, associative, and mostly unconscious, while the activity of the reflective system is slow, rule-based and relies on cognitive resources. Hence, people are more prone to rely on the associative system if cognitive resources are diminished or temporarily unavailable. Such a state of low mental resources has been linked to various detrimental effects such as impulse buying, stereotyping, unhealthy food choices, aggression, as well as impaired cognitive performance in general and is referred to as ego-depletion. According to ego-depletion theory self-control functions like a muscle and activities that heavily rely on the exertion of self-control successively exhaust this limited resource. Lately, some critical concerns questioning the magnitude of ego-depletion effects or its existence altogether have been raised. Most recent meta-analytical findings resolved most of the uncertainty, however, and stressed the importance of the paradigm used to deplete cognitive resources with emotion suppression videos being best suited to induce a state of ego-depletion. Therefore, an emotional video, showing sequences of a surgery will be used in the present research in order to manipulate the amount of cognitive resources available. While participants in the experimental group are asked to suppress any emotions while watching the video, the control group is requested to simply watch the video attentively. The word-stem completion task is an implicit aggression measure that asks participants to complement word-stems with the assumption being that the more aggressive solutions a person generates the more aggressive that person is. The experiment will use a sequential-task paradigm with half of the 60 participants being randomly assigned to the ego-depletion condition. After watching the emotional video, participants in both groups will be requested to complete the word-stem completion task, an aggression implicit association test, as well as a multi-source interference task. Furthermore, trait aggression and the amount of subjective emotion, experienced while watching the video, will be assessed as potential moderators. It is expected that participants in the ego-depletion group will score higher on implicit aggression measures (word-stem completion task and implicit association task) and perform worse on the multi-source interference task, which measures cognitive performance. Participants will be told that the experiment seeks to understand the relationship between emotional videos and cognition and creativity. At the end of the study, participants will be debriefed about the actual goal of the study and will receive monetary compensation for their participation.

6. Conditions and Keywords

Primary Disease or Condition Being Studied in the Trial, or the Focus of the Study
Aggression
Keywords
ego-depletion, implicit aggression, word-stem completion task, implicit association task

7. Study Design

Primary Purpose
Basic Science
Study Phase
Not Applicable
Interventional Study Model
Parallel Assignment
Model Description
Participants are randomly assigned to either a ego-depletion- or a control group.
Masking
Participant
Masking Description
Participants do not know that there exists more than one condition.
Allocation
Randomized
Enrollment
60 (Anticipated)

8. Arms, Groups, and Interventions

Arm Title
Ego-depletion group
Arm Type
Experimental
Arm Description
Participants in this condition are asked to suppress their emotion while watching an emotional video of a surgery. Suppressing the natural emotional reaction to such a video demands cognitive resources and thus can induce a state of ego-depletion.
Arm Title
Control group
Arm Type
Active Comparator
Arm Description
Participants in the control group are asked to watch the same emotional video. However, they are required to simply watch the video without suppressing any emotions.
Intervention Type
Behavioral
Intervention Name(s)
Ego-depletion
Intervention Description
The surgery video lasts for 9 minutes and participants are asked to suppress their emotions. After the intervention several implicit aggression tests, as well as a task, measuring cognitive performance in general are assessed.
Intervention Type
Behavioral
Intervention Name(s)
Control
Intervention Description
The surgery video lasts for 9 minutes and participants in the control group are asked to watch the surgery video without the need to suppress their emotions. Several implicit aggression tests, as well as a task, measuring cognitive performance in general are assessed after the 9 minute video sequence.
Primary Outcome Measure Information:
Title
Word-stem completion task
Description
In the word-stem completion task participants are presented with up to 100 word-stems in random order. The participants' task is to build as many words as possible within sic minutes by complementing the word-stems. Solution words can be either aggressive, partially aggressive or non-aggressive. Sum scores for all aggressive and partially aggressive solutions are built as a first index of implicit aggression. First results from the German version of the word-stem completion task, however, indicate that a score taking into account the number of total solutions, as well as the word frequencies in the German language is better suited to measure implicit aggression than the conventional sum score method. Therefore, the new weighted score will be used as main outcome variable.
Time Frame
All measures will be taken on a single occasion in a sequential-task paradigm, which is standard in ego-depletion research. Completion of all tasks takes 6 minutes
Title
Implicit Association Test (IAT) for aggression
Description
The IAT is a speeded classification task, which seeks to measure the inner strength of associations between certain concepts. During the IAT words are presented at the center of the screen and participants are asked to categorize stimuli either to the left or to the right based on the instructions of the respective block. IAT scores are obtained by comparing reaction times between blocks in which participants have to press the same button in response to aggressive as well as self-referential words with reaction times from blocks in which peaceful and self-referential words require the same response. If participants respond faster on trials in which aggressive and self-referential words require the same response this is thought to reflect higher levels of implicit aggression.
Time Frame
All measures will be taken on a single occasion in a sequential-task paradigm, which is standard in ego-depletion research. Completion of this task takes about 5 minutes.
Title
Multi-source interference task (MSIT)
Description
The MSIT is thought to measure cognitive control and cognitive performance in general. On each trial three items are presented next to each other at the center of the screen, with two of them being identical and one deviating from the others. Participants are asked to identify the number that differs from the other two presented items (mostly numbers) and to press the corresponding key on the keyboard. The position and the actual number can either be the same, e.g. the number 2 presented in between two other numbers or letters (so-called flankers), in which we speak of congruency or number and position can be incongruent, for instance the number 2 presented left to
Time Frame
All measures will be taken on a single occasion in a sequential-task paradigm, which is standard in ego-depletion research. Completion of this task takes about 5 minutes.

10. Eligibility

Sex
All
Minimum Age & Unit of Time
18 Years
Maximum Age & Unit of Time
55 Years
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: being mentally healthy German as native language being between 18-55 years in age Exclusion Criteria: working in a medical profession
Central Contact Person:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name or Official Title & Degree
Dimitrij Kugler, M.Sc.
Phone
040 741024113
Email
d.kugler@uke.de
Overall Study Officials:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Simone Kühn, Prof. Dr.
Organizational Affiliation
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
Official's Role
Principal Investigator
Facility Information:
Facility Name
University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf
City
Hamburg
ZIP/Postal Code
20246
Country
Germany
Individual Site Status
Recruiting
Facility Contact:
First Name & Middle Initial & Last Name & Degree
Dimitrij Kugler, M.Sc.
Phone
0049 40 7410 24113
Email
d.kugler@uke.de

12. IPD Sharing Statement

Plan to Share IPD
No
Citations:
PubMed Identifier
9599441
Citation
Baumeister RF, Bratslavsky E, Muraven M, Tice DM. Ego depletion: is the active self a limited resource? J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998 May;74(5):1252-65. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.74.5.1252.
Results Reference
background
PubMed Identifier
28391367
Citation
Dang J. An updated meta-analysis of the ego depletion effect. Psychol Res. 2018 Jul;82(4):645-651. doi: 10.1007/s00426-017-0862-x. Epub 2017 Apr 8.
Results Reference
background
PubMed Identifier
20565167
Citation
Hagger MS, Wood C, Stiff C, Chatzisarantis NL. Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 2010 Jul;136(4):495-525. doi: 10.1037/a0019486.
Results Reference
background
PubMed Identifier
15454347
Citation
Strack F, Deutsch R. Reflective and impulsive determinants of social behavior. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2004;8(3):220-47. doi: 10.1207/s15327957pspr0803_1.
Results Reference
background

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The Influence of Ego-depletion on Implicit Aggression and Cognitive Performance

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