Ego Depletion May Explain Gender Differences in Multitasking

Abstract

We replicate the finding that females perform better than males in the task switching type of multitasking. We also find that multitasking impairs cognitive reflection through ego depletion, regardless of gender. However, the cognitive reflection of males is relatively more weakened after multitasking. This suggests that ego depletion may be an interesting candidate mechanism to explain gender differences in multitasking performance. JEL: D03, C91, M5