If mental effort is unpleasant, why do people seek it out?
That was the paradox researchers were keen to explore.
Across a meta-analysis of 170 studies, 5,000 people, 29 countries and 358 tasks, they found this:
👉 We don’t like to think.
- Thinking is generally unpleasant.
- In the West, especially, we’re wired to dislike exerting mental effort. In Asia, slightly less so.
- And it doesn’t matter what the task is. Medical simulations, military training, crossword puzzles – the more effort people had to exert, the worse they felt.
So if we don’t like to think, why do we choose to read books, study, or play chess?
Two reasons:
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Extrinsic rewards like promotions, praise, prizes or points. If there’s a clear payoff, we’re more likely to bother.
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Intrinsic meaning. If it gives us purpose, or a sense of mastery, we seek it out.
So, it’s not that people dislike all thinking – we dislike pointless thinking.
Effort without reward or meaning can cause us pain. Effort with reward or meaning can give us pleasure.
P.S. This research supports something I’ve long used in my work. The Effort vs Reward equation. Put simply, for behaviour to happen, R > E.
Ref: David L, Vassena E, Bijleveld E. The unpleasantness of thinking: A meta-analytic review of the association between mental effort and negative affect. Psychol Bull. 2024 Sep;150(9):1070-1093. doi: 10.1037/bul0000443. Epub 2024 Aug 5. PMID: 39101924.
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