Definition and research guide
This page combines a MeSH definition, publication statistics and selected research abstracts. It is a starting point for reading the literature, not a medical textbook or a systematic evidence review.
Content available: 4 complete abstracts (734 words), 10 references. Full article text is not stored or reproduced here; follow the PMID, DOI or PMC links to read the original sources and their access terms.
Definition
The conscious portion of the personality structure which serves to mediate between the demands of the primitive instinctual drives, (the id), of internalized parental and social prohibitions or the conscience, (the superego), and of reality.
Definition: NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) scope note (Public domain (U.S. National Library of Medicine); attribution requested). View the MeSH record.
Also known as: Egos; Self.
Where it fits in the MeSH classification
- Broader topics
- Personality Development; Psychoanalytic Theory
- Narrower topics
- Reality Testing
- See also
- Self Psychology
Research landscape
PubMed indexes 8,044 records tagged with the MeSH heading “Ego” (counts retrieved 2026-10-31). 379 of them (4.7%) were published from 2020 onward, and the busiest period so far is through 1999 with 4,837 records.
Reviews account for 862 records (10.7%) and meta-analyses for 29. Randomized controlled trials number 116 (1.4%) as a share of all records on the topic. Randomized trials make up only a small share of this literature, so much of what is known comes from laboratory, observational or descriptive work.
Show the data
| Period | Records |
|---|---|
| through 1999 | 4,837 |
| 2000-2009 | 1,475 |
| 2010-2019 | 1,353 |
| 2020 onward | 379 |
Publication-type chart data
| Type | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 862 | 10.7% |
| Meta-analyses | 29 | 0.4% |
| Randomized controlled trials | 116 | 1.4% |
Method: PubMed query "Ego"[MeSH Terms] with publication-type and date filters, retrieved 2026-10-31.
Reading the evidence in psychiatry and psychology
Research on mental health and behaviour relies on questionnaires, interviews and rating scales rather than physical measurements, so how a condition was defined and measured shapes every result. Many studies are observational or small, placebo responses can be large, and findings in one group or culture may not carry over to another. Nothing on this page is advice about diagnosis or treatment; anyone worried about their mental health should talk to a qualified clinician. Check how outcomes were measured, who took part and how long they were followed.
Evidence from open-access studies
These open-access studies come from PubMed’s best-match results for this heading (papers whose main topic it is), ranked here by citation count, with one recent addition. Each abstract is reproduced in full under its recorded open licence so that you can read the authors’ own words. They illustrate the literature; they are not a systematic summary of it. Citation counts measure attention, not reliability or clinical benefit.
| Study / authors | Year | Source label / design | Europe PMC citations | Licence / source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale | 2015 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 101 | cc by PMID 26068873 · DOI · PMC4466912 |
| From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner | 2019 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 84 | cc by PMID 31888300 · DOI · PMC6949937 |
| An updated meta-analysis of the ego depletion effect | 2018 | Meta-analysis Design not recorded in structured metadata | 62 | cc by PMID 28391367 · DOI · PMC6013521 |
| Ego-Resiliency and Coping Styles in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic | 2025 | Research article Design not recorded in structured metadata | 1 | cc by PMID 41470236 · DOI · PMC12734801 |
Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale [1]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Understanding the nature and influence of social relationships is of increasing interest to behavioral economists, and behavioral scientists more generally.
- Closing excerpt
- We conclude that the IOS Scale is a psychologically meaningful and highly reliable measure of the subjective closeness of relationships.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (168 words)
Understanding the nature and influence of social relationships is of increasing interest to behavioral economists, and behavioral scientists more generally. In turn, this creates a need for tractable, and reliable, tools for measuring fundamental aspects of social relationships. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' (IOS) Scale, a handy pictorial tool for measuring the subjectively perceived closeness of a relationship. The tool is highly portable, very easy for subjects to understand and takes less than 1 minute to administer. Across our three online studies with a diverse adult population (n = 772) we show that six different scales designed to measure relationship closeness are all highly significantly positively correlated with the IOS Scale. We then conduct a Principal Component Analysis to construct an Index of Relationship Closeness and find that it correlates very strongly (ρ = 85) with the IOS Scale. We conclude that the IOS Scale is a psychologically meaningful and highly reliable measure of the subjective closeness of relationships.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 26068873 · DOI · PMC4466912
From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner [2]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- (1) Background: There appears to be a growing disconnection between humans and their natural environments which has been linked to poor mental health and ecological destruction.
- Closing excerpt
- (4) Conclusions: The here presented evidence for a context- and state-dependent causal effect of psychedelic use on nature relatedness bears relevance for psychedelic treatment models in mental health and, in the face of the current ecological crisis, planetary health.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (215 words)
(1) Background: There appears to be a growing disconnection between humans and their natural environments which has been linked to poor mental health and ecological destruction. Previous research suggests that individual levels of nature relatedness can be increased through the use of classical psychedelic compounds, although a causal link between psychedelic use and nature relatedness has not yet been established. (2) Methods: Using correlations and generalized linear mixed regression modelling, we investigated the association between psychedelic use and nature relatedness in a prospective online study. Individuals planning to use a psychedelic received questionnaires 1 week before (N = 654), plus one day, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, and 2 years after a psychedelic experience. (3) Results: The frequency of lifetime psychedelic use was positively correlated with nature relatedness at baseline. Nature relatedness was significantly increased 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 2 years after the psychedelic experience. This increase was positively correlated with concomitant increases in psychological well-being and was dependent on the extent of ego-dissolution and the perceived influence of natural surroundings during the acute psychedelic state. (4) Conclusions: The here presented evidence for a context- and state-dependent causal effect of psychedelic use on nature relatedness bears relevance for psychedelic treatment models in mental health and, in the face of the current ecological crisis, planetary health.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 31888300 · DOI · PMC6949937
An updated meta-analysis of the ego depletion effect [3]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- The ego depletion effect is one of the most famous phenomena in social psychology.
- Closing excerpt
- Future studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of each depletion task revealed by the current meta-analysis.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (130 words)
The ego depletion effect is one of the most famous phenomena in social psychology. A recent meta-analysis showed that after accounting for small-studies effects by using a newly developed method called PET-PEESE, the ego depletion effect was indistinguishable from zero. However, it is too early to draw such rushing conclusion because of the inappropriate usage of PET-PEESE. The current paper reported a stricter and updated meta-analysis of ego depletion by carefully inspecting problems in the previous meta-analysis, including new studies not covered by it, and testing the effectiveness of each depleting task. The results suggest that attention video should be an ineffective depleting task, whereas emotion video should be the most effective one. Future studies are needed to confirm the effectiveness of each depletion task revealed by the current meta-analysis.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 28391367 · DOI · PMC6013521
Ego-Resiliency and Coping Styles in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic [4]
Abstract reading summary — source excerpts
- Opening excerpt
- Background and Objectives: In the difficult socio-economic situation of recent years, particular attention has been paid to factors that may have a protective effect on mental health.
- Closing excerpt
- Strengthening ego-resiliency may be a relevant therapeutic target in clinical interventions.
- Interpretation limits
- Verbatim excerpts from the authors’ abstract; the closing excerpt may describe a finding, limitation or recommendation. Design, population, effect size and uncertainty have not been independently extracted or appraised. Read the complete abstract and linked paper before interpreting the findings.
Read complete abstract (221 words)
Background and Objectives: In the difficult socio-economic situation of recent years, particular attention has been paid to factors that may have a protective effect on mental health. One of these factors is the individual resource known as ego-resiliency. The aim of the study was to assess ego-resiliency as a potential protective factor against stress symptoms and to determine effective coping strategies in a group of patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from March 2020 to March 2022 among patients attending a Mental Health Clinic in the Upper Silesian metropolitan area of Poland. A total of 68 participants with a confirmed diagnosis of GAD (42 women, 26 men) completed the Ego-Resiliency Scale (ER89-R12), the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS), and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Results: The mean score on the ER89-R12 was 32.85 ± 6.52 points, with no significant gender differences. The mean PSS-10 score was 22.48 ± 5.61, corresponding to a moderate to high perceived stress level. Significant negative correlations were found between ego-resiliency and perceived stress, and positive correlations between ego-resiliency and task-focused coping. Conclusions: Ego-resiliency may serve as a protective factor against stress and promote adaptive, task-focused coping strategies in patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Strengthening ego-resiliency may be a relevant therapeutic target in clinical interventions.
Abstract reproduced from the open-access article under the recorded cc by licence; © the authors. PMID 41470236 · DOI · PMC12734801
Key reviews and meta-analyses
The most cited review-type papers among PubMed’s best-match results for this heading, listed with bibliographic details only. Follow the links for the full text and access terms.
- Research article Self-referential processing in our brain--a meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self [5]
- Research article Self-projection and the brain [6]
- Research article Dysconnection in schizophrenia: from abnormal synaptic plasticity to failures of self-monitoring [7]
- Research article Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: a meta-analysis [8]
- Research article The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world [9]
- Research article The self and social cognition: the role of cortical midline structures and mirror neurons [10]
References
- Gächter S, Starmer C, Tufano F. Measuring the Closeness of Relationships: A Comprehensive Evaluation of the 'Inclusion of the Other in the Self' Scale. . 2015. PMID 26068873 · DOI · PMC4466912
- Kettner H, Gandy S, Haijen ECHM, Carhart-Harris RL. From Egoism to Ecoism: Psychedelics Increase Nature Relatedness in a State-Mediated and Context-Dependent Manner. . 2019. PMID 31888300 · DOI · PMC6949937
- Dang J. An updated meta-analysis of the ego depletion effect. . 2018. PMID 28391367 · DOI · PMC6013521
- Badura-Brzoza K, Główczyński P, Dębski P, Błachut M, Skalski-Bednarz SB. Ego-Resiliency and Coping Styles in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic. . 2025. PMID 41470236 · DOI · PMC12734801
- Northoff G, Heinzel A, de Greck M, Bermpohl F, Dobrowolny H, Panksepp J. Self-referential processing in our brain--a meta-analysis of imaging studies on the self. Neuroimage. 2006. PMID 16466680 · DOI
- Buckner RL, Carroll DC. Self-projection and the brain. Trends Cogn Sci. 2007. PMID 17188554 · DOI
- Stephan KE, Friston KJ, Frith CD. Dysconnection in schizophrenia: from abnormal synaptic plasticity to failures of self-monitoring. Schizophr Bull. 2009. PMID 19155345 · DOI · PMC2669579
- Hagger MS, Wood C, Stiff C, Chatzisarantis NL. Ego depletion and the strength model of self-control: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 2010. PMID 20565167 · DOI
- Yeshurun Y, Nguyen M, Hasson U. The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2021. PMID 33483717 · DOI · PMC7959111
- Uddin LQ, Iacoboni M, Lange C, Keenan JP. The self and social cognition: the role of cortical midline structures and mirror neurons. Trends Cogn Sci. 2007. PMID 17300981 · DOI
About this article
- Sources
- NLM Medical Subject Headings (definition, synonyms); NCBI PubMed (counts, identifiers); Europe PMC (open-access abstracts and citation counts).
- Verification
- Every reference was resolved against PubMed on 2026-11-04; title, year and DOI matched.
- Review state
- automated source verified; no human expert review has been recorded yet.
- Version
- 1, last updated 2026-11-04.
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Evidence strength
EvidenceHelix's computed view of the study designs behind this topic: how common meta-analyses, randomized trials and reviews are, how recent the literature is, and a plain-language reading. It describes the design mix of the literature. It is not a quality appraisal of any study, and it is not medical advice.