Self-regulation is necessary to adaptive social functioning; however, resources to maintain self-regulation are limited. In two studies, I examined whether social connection can restore self-regulatory resources and reduce ego-depletion. In Study 1, participants were randomly assigned to a depletion or no depletion manipulation, which was followed by one of three restoration prime conditions: neutral, connection, or positive emotion. They then completed a Stroop task where their reaction times were measured. Compared to the no depletion condition, participants were slower on the Stroop incongruent trails when they were depleted. Although the patterns of results were in the predicted direction, the connection prime did not significantly reduce ego-depletion when compared to the neutral and positive emotion primes.

In Study 2, I examined whether a connection writing task assigned every 3 days for 10 days would decrease ego-depletion, restore self-regulation, and reduce stress after a the 10 day study. Participants completed a daily diary study where they completed either a connection writing task or a neutral writing task every three days for ten days. Every night for the ten days, they completed surveys measuring their ego-depletion, self-regulation, and perceived stress. They also completed a checklist of behaviors that required self-regulation. The connection writing task compared to the neutral writing task did not have a significant effect on self-reported ego-depletion, self-regulation, or depleted behaviors at the end of the study. There was; however, a marginally significant effect of the connection writing task compared to the neutral writing task on perceived stress.

Participants who completed the connection writing task perceived less stress at the end of the study than participants who completed the neutral writing task. Overall results from these studies did not support the hypotheses. The discussion focuses on potential factors affecting the study, limitations, alternative models, and future studies.