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Ego involvement and effort: cardiovascular, electrodermal, and performance effects.

Guido H E Gendolla1, Michael Richter

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. guido.gendolla@pse.unige.ch

Psychophysiology
|September 24, 2005
PubMed
Summary

High ego involvement boosts physiological responses and improves performance on challenging tasks. When task difficulty is easy, ego involvement does not affect autonomic reactivity or accuracy.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Physiology
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Ego involvement is theorized to influence active coping strategies.
  • Autonomic reactivity is a key indicator of physiological stress and effort.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of ego involvement and task difficulty on autonomic reactivity and performance.
  • To examine the relationship between physiological responses, mental effort, and task accuracy.

Main Methods:

  • An experiment involving 52 university students.
  • Manipulation of ego involvement (low vs. high) and task difficulty (unfixed vs. easy).
  • Measurement of physiological responses: systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductance.

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Main Results:

  • High ego involvement increased autonomic reactivity (blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance) when task difficulty was unfixed.
  • Ego involvement did not affect autonomic reactivity when task difficulty was easy.
  • Participants with high ego involvement and unfixed task difficulty made fewer errors, indicating better performance.

Conclusions:

  • Ego involvement enhances autonomic reactivity and performance under conditions of unfixed task difficulty.
  • A fixed, easy performance standard mitigates the effects of ego involvement on physiological responses and accuracy.
  • Findings support the association between mental effort, physiological arousal, and task performance.