Mental effort is universally disliked according to major study

Some people claim they enjoy puzzles and a good mental challenge. Turns out they may be liars, though. New research suggests that the mental strain of problem-solving and pondering even the simplest sudoku is akin to stubbing your toe — without the satisfying catharsis of swearing. So, next time your boss tells you to “think outside the box,” you might want to consider asking for a helmet.

A mental workout

Ever wonder why your brain feels like it’s doing burpees after a day of heavy thinking? Turns out, it’s not just you being dramatic. According to new research from the American Psychological Association, mental exertion really does feel like a workout — complete with the unpleasant side effects.

“Managers often encourage employees, and teachers often encourage students, to exert mental effort. On the surface, this seems to work well: Employees and students do often opt for mentally challenging activities,” said senior author Erik Bijleveld of Radboud University.

“From this, you may be tempted to conclude that employees and students tend to enjoy thinking hard. Our results suggest that this conclusion would be false: In general, people really dislike mental effort.”

Researchers conducted a massive meta-analysis of 170 studies published between 2019 and 2020. These studies included 4,670 participants from 29 countries and various fields, such as healthcare, the military, sports, and academia. The participants had to perform over 350 different cognitive tasks from learning a new technology to practicing golf swings.

The analysis revealed a consistent link between mental effort and negative emotions like frustration, irritation, stress, and annoyance. Previously, psychologists at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, found that people preferred getting mildly burned to completing a memory task. In another shocking study, published in 2014 in the journal Science, some people would rather undergo mild electric shocks than sit in a room alone with their thoughts.

Effort and rewards

The new research shows that the aversive nature of mental effort is universal across different populations and tasks. However, it is less pronounced in Asian countries compared to Europe or North America. This could be due to different educational practices, where students in Asian countries typically spend more time on schoolwork and become more accustomed to mental exertion.

Bijleveld highlighted the importance of supporting or rewarding individuals when they are required to exert significant mental effort. This is crucial for professionals designing educational tools, work tasks, or any cognitively demanding activities.

Despite the unpleasantness associated with mental effort, people still voluntarily engage in such tasks. For example, millions play chess, a game that requires significant mental exertion. Bijleveld suggests that people may pursue these activities for the rewards they offer, not because they inherently enjoy the mental effort involved.

“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,” Bijleveld said.

The findings appeared in the journal Psychological Bulletin.