There is nothing quite so invigorating as fully exercising your mind, said hardly anybody ever.
Turns out what we all suspected is true. Thinking hard and putting in a big mental effort is no fun. It can hurt.
Research published by the American Psychological Association this month found that, in general, people “really dislike mental effort”.
The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 170 studies, published between 2019 and 2020 and involving 4670 participants.
They tested whether mental effort was associated with unpleasant feelings and whether that association depended on the task, or the population involved.
“Our findings show that mental effort feels unpleasant across a wide range of populations and tasks,” Senior author Erik Bijleveld of Radboud University said.
“This is important for professionals, such as engineers and educators, to keep in mind when designing tasks, tools, interfaces, apps, materials or instructions.
“When people are required to exert substantial mental effort, you need to make sure to support or reward them for their effort.”
Dr Bijleveld said the findings were also important for managers dealing with staff.
Workers and students often opted for mentally challenging activities, but this should not be confused with them enjoying the tasks.
“For example, why do millions of people play chess? People may learn that exerting mental effort in some specific activities is likely to lead to reward,” Dr Bijleveld said.
“If the benefits of chess outweigh the costs, people may choose to play chess, and even self-report that they enjoy chess.
“Yet, when people choose to pursue mentally effortful activities, this should not be taken as an indication that they enjoy mental effort per se. Perhaps people choose mentally effortful activities despite the effort, not because of it.”
The full report is on the American Psychological Association website.
