Abstract: Due to the self-activities, the mental energy is consumed and this mental energy consumption process is called ego depletion. Ego depletion causes many inadaptation problems. In recent years, the theory of ego depletion has developed in terms of many aspects, e.g. the fields of ego depletion, the duration and internal mechanism. The current investigation of factors affecting ego depletion focuses on cognition, emotion and personality traits. The applied research on results of ego depletion has become a new trend. The mechanism of ego depletion should be further investigated in the future, and some existing debates about the influencing factors and results of ego depletion need to be clarified. Moreover, measurement tools need further study in order to improve the ego depletion theory.

Key words: self, mental energy, ego depletion