For example, Muraven and Shmueli (49) found that when social drinkers were exposed to alcohol cues, they showed greater disinhibition than when exposed to neutral cues. A similar pattern of results was reported by Gauggel et al. (50) in detoxified alcohol-dependent patients [although a subsequent study failed to replicate this (51)]. One explanation for these findings is that alcohol abusers have to engage self-control resources in order to resist their urge to drink alcohol when exposed to alcohol cues, and this leads to a depletion of self-control resources, which manifests as increased disinhibition. However, it is important to point out that ego depletion is not the only explanation for increased disinhibition after cue exposure, a point that we address in the next section.
