Last Sunday, I came across a truly great article from Slate, one about the possible debunking of a hugely influential theory from social psychology, a theory called ego depletion. As the Slate piece notes, it’s really uncommon for a theory supported by so much data to come under attack. And I’m sure many psychologists and social theorists on university campuses everywhere are wondering what will happen next.

 

While I’ve heard of ego depletion, I’ve never actually used it in any research. But, of course, after reading the story, I’ve been thinking of the theory all week and, so, not so shockingly, it popped into my head while watching this week’s episode of Survivor. Let’s apply it.

 

Before we get to the Brawn tribe’s boot off of Alecia and theory, though, let’s talk for a second about Caleb. We all know he’s coming back, probably for another edition of Second Chance, which I’m sure will happen shortly. But you still have to feel bad for him and, even, the Beauty tribe. Caleb seemed to be playing a great game, making good relationships with people on his tribe, relationships that looked like they might last. Of course, a guy like Caleb would have an exceedingly difficult time winning Survivor. He’s a target. His removal from the game, though, really hurts his tribe, too.

 

 

While we’ve seen some cracks and alliances on the Beauty tribe, I don’t think there’s any doubt they seem the most together. That’s clearly a function of never going to Tribal, but they also seem to have the most rational team. Now they lose their advantage through no fault of their own. It’s going to be an interesting swap/merge next week.

 

But enough about that. Let’s talk turkey or, um, theory. So ego depletion, well, it deals very little with ego in the normal sense of that word. Ego depletion, first theorized almost 20 years ago by current Florida State University professor Roy Baumeister and some colleagues, really focuses on the idea of willpower.

 

In case you didn’t read the Slate article I linked to above, let’s briefly talk about the theory. In many ways, even if you’ve never heard the term ego depletion before, you’ve probably seen satires of the original experiment in popular culture … think those scenes in The Five-Year Engagement. Basically, the grand idea behind the theory is that we as people have a finite amount of willpower and once we use it up, we’re left tired and have less control over our cognitive processing power (it’s harder for us to think).

 

The classic experiment conducted by Baumeister and other scholars split subjects into two groups. I’m making this as simple as possible so we can get to Survivor. But, yeah, one group entered a room filled with the scent of chocolate chip cookies and were allowed to eat as many cookies, which were on a plate next to a plate of radishes, as they wanted. Then they were asked to complete an unsolvable puzzle. The researchers timed the group to see how long it would take for them to give up. Another group of subjects were brought into the room and told they could only eat the radishes, not the cookies which smelled oh so good. They were then asked to complete the puzzle.

 

Numerous experiments over the last couple decades found support for what Baumeister concluded: The group who ate the cookies spent far more time on the puzzle before giving up because they did not deplete any willpower. The group with the radishes? They give up quickly because it took everything in them to simply not eat the cookies.

 

So how does this work with the Brawn tribe ditching Alecia? Well, putting aside all of our dislike for Scot and Kyle/Jason, those two, along with Cydney, have been dealing with Alecia for 12 days by the end of this episode. The first two times Brawn went to tribal, it was almost like they were told they couldn’t eat the cookies (vote out Alecia) and it took all their willpower to even get to this point, by which time they all clearly couldn’t deal with Alecia anymore and really had no energy left for either challenge.

 

 

I’m not sure what type of person Scot or Kyle/Jason is in real life, but I guarantee you they felt living and dealing with Alecia was hard work and it’s clearly been draining for them. I’m willing to bet that now that she’s gone, the tribe would have performed much better in subsequent challenges … except it looks like there won’t be any. But you have to think, these three might look like better players now.

 

In general, sometimes I wish Survivor was like a computer game. I don’t actually play computer games or anything, but I often wish you could simulate a season based on various moves. If you’re like me, you really have to wonder how this season plays out if Alecia goes home first. Is Brawn a better and more easygoing tribe then? I’m not sure since Kyle/Jason seems like an angry dude at times, but it sure would have been interesting to see.

 

That type of simulation would allow us to get an idea about whether ego depletion was a factor on this tribe. Of course, the key to a good scientific experiment is to account for all variables and this proposed simulation wouldn’t do that; it would just change a person out. But I maintain it sure would be interesting to see. Now, with that said, the Brawn tribe isn’t easy to root for at all, so maybe this is karma.

 

OK, so enough about willpower. I’m sure it’s taken you all the willpower in the world to avoiding getting to this part of the column, the part where I survey the remaining field. Let’s do it one last time in this three-tribe format. Here we go.

 

Brains – Chan Loh

 

• Peter B. – This dude might have all types of grand illusions about how great he is, but you just had to be impressed by how amazingly he took over that puzzle. I don’t think Peter’s in a good spot in this game because he’s clearly going to be a target and I’m guessing he’ll not align with current tribemates. But if every challenge contains a puzzle, well, he could be Terry-like in his challenge dominance.   

 

• Debbie W. – Debbie, unlike Peter, will not be a target in a shakeup or merge, I wouldn’t think. And Debbie sure knows how to play this game. She’s entertaining in a loopy way, so let’s hope she’s not one of the other two people removed from the game. It looked like  close call last week and no Debbie would certainly suck some of the entertainment out of this season. Clearly producers hit a home run casting her.  

 

• Joseph D. – I’m not sure I like Joe very much and I’m not sure he’s playing a good game, but give the man credit: As people started to feel the effects of heat and dehydration at the reward challenge, Joe just kept on going despite being a pretty old guy.  

 

• Aubry B. – In some ways, Aubry’s turning into Purple Kelly. But, boy, can she swim.  
• Neal G. – I’m still liking Neal’s place in this game, but I have a bad feeling if he and Peter end up on the same tribe after the shakeup. Peter’s ego tells me he’ll immediately break away from the Brain tribe and try to make Neal a target.  

 

Beauty – Gondol

 

• Nick M. – Not much from Nick this and it looks like a tribe shakeup only helps him as he clearly would have been the first boot on this tribe. I think he should now align with Peter and they can both talk about how great they are while good players put together a plan to boot them.

 

• Julia S. – Another episode, another 42 or so minutes of barely any Julia, Michele or Anna. Let’s see how these three function away from each other.

 

• Michele F. – Or, to continue my last though, what if the three end up on the same tribe? Now that would be fun.

 

• Tai T. – Still the greatest contestant ever. Maybe not the greatest player, but the greatest contestant. The way he talked about cuddling Caleb again? Simply amazing.

 

• Anna K. – I really can’t think of anything more to say about Julia, Michele or Anna. I think Anna seems to be the leader of the trio, but let’s hope we get more about their individual strategies now that there won’t be any more Beauty tribe (presumably).     

 

Brawn – To Tang

 

• Scot P. – Scot really looked bad this week. I still don’t understand his whole cheerleading spiel. It’s like he both wanted to insult Alecia and not argue with her. And he did a good job with only one of them.

 

• Kyle/Jason – There are moments, like when he talked about his daughters, when Kyle/Jason seems like a good guy. And I’m sure the elements suck out there, but if he wants to be a good example for his daughters, he needs to start treating everyone with respect.   

 

• Cydney G. – Cydney is really playing under the radar. I want to see what happens if/when she’s split from Scot and Kyle/Jason. Will she ingratiate herself with new alliances or will she become a target? I’m excited to find out.

 

Alright then. Let’s call it a day. Talk next week? Have a great, um, St. Patrick’s Day or something. Or just a good week.