Written by Source: Matt Furness on LinkedIn
This meta-analysis study notes that although many influential theories in psychology, neuroscience, and economics assume that the exertion of mental effort should feel aversive, this assumption is usually untested, and it is challenged by casual observations and previous studies.
In a review of 170 studies that used the NASA Task Load Index to examine participantsโ experiences of effort and negative affect this paper found a strong positive association between mental effort and negative affect.
In aviation this concept might be familiar to us through Daniel Kahnemanโs theory of System 1 and System 2 thinking and how we avoid mental effort in the decision-making process. Kahneman argued:
โ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ธ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ด. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บโ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ.โ
The full study is available at the link below:
David, L., Vassena, E., & Bijleveld, E. (2024). The unpleasantness of thinking: A meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication.
The results of this study show that the more effort required, the worse people feel about the task. Furthermore, this held true across different:
โณ Tasks
โณ Cultures
โณ Types of people
As Matt Furness notes on LinkedIn the relevance of this study is widespread and goes beyond decision-making. For example, it also has relevance to other areas of human behaviour, such as culture change. As most culture change initiatives are person-focused and include training, comms, events, and leadership development, their success relies on people investing willpower, attention, and effort.
The full study is available at the link below:
David, L., Vassena, E., & Bijleveld, E. (2024). The unpleasantness of thinking: A meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication.