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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 24, 2025

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans

Published on: March 19, 2014

Effort feels meaningful.

Michael Inzlicht¹, Aidan V Campbell²

¹University of Toronto, Department of Psychology, 1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4, Canada; Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Trends in Cognitive Sciences

|October 22, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Effort is often avoided, yet it can make tasks feel meaningful, even those without inherent purpose. This research explores why and when effort imbues tasks with significance.

Keywords:

effort meaning motivation purpose value work

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Last Updated: Aug 24, 2025

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Area of Science:

Psychology
Cognitive Science
Behavioral Economics

Background:

Humans generally prefer to avoid effortful tasks.
Despite this aversion, effort can enhance task value and meaning.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the psychological mechanisms underlying the meaning-making effects of effort.
To identify conditions and individual differences that moderate the relationship between effort and perceived meaning.

Main Methods:

The study likely involved experimental designs where participants engaged in tasks of varying difficulty and purpose.
Data collection may include self-report measures of meaning, task engagement, and effort justification.

Main Results:

Findings suggest that effort, even in arbitrary tasks, can lead to increased subjective meaning.
The degree of perceived meaning is influenced by factors such as perceived choice and task engagement.

Conclusions:

Effort is a potent psychological resource for generating meaning, extending beyond intrinsically valuable activities.
Understanding the role of effort in meaning-making has implications for motivation, well-being, and task design.