Self‐control, limited willpower and decision fatigue in healthcare settings

Abstract

We argue that willpower as well as its depletion may, in some circumstances, adversely impact on clinical decision-making and patient care. This psychological phenomenon has been dubbed ego depletion in social psychology. Willpower and its depletion which is known as 'ego depletion' are well-established and validated theoretical constructs in social psychology and have been studied across a range of experimental contexts. Willpower is closely related to the concept of self-control, which refers to the ability to regulate one's own behaviour and actions in order to pursue and achieve either a short- or long-term goal. We outline the clinical relevance of willpower and its depletion in relation to clinical case examples drawn from three of the authors' clinical experience with the view of developing a clinical-research agenda for future research studies. We examine willpower and its depletion in the context of three clinical case examples, which include (i) doctor-patient interactions, (ii) willpower and its depletion in relation to challenging interpersonal interactions with clinical and non-clinical work colleagues and (iii) willpower and its depletion in response to working within a challenging and unpredictable clinical environment. In contrast to the more widely recognised external resources (including space, staff allocations and night shifts), a greater understanding of how this important but under-recognised internal resource can be depleted in response to a range of different factors within clinical settings has the potential to inform and improve patient care through a renewed focus on the developing interdisciplinary clinical studies which draw upon contemporary findings from social psychology. Future work aimed at developing evidence-based interventions to help mitigate the negative impact of impaired self-control and decision fatigue within healthcare systems may in turn lead to improved patient care as well as more effective healthcare service and delivery.

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