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Studying Food Reward and Motivation in Humans
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Experimental evidence that exerting effort increases meaning.

Aidan V Campbell1, Yiyi Wang2, Michael Inzlicht3

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Toronto,.

Cognition
|January 24, 2025
PubMed
Summary

Exerting effort on tasks, even imagined effort, increases feelings of meaning and purpose. This relationship holds true up to a certain point, suggesting effort is a key source of personal value.

Keywords:
Cognitive controlEffortMeaningMotivation

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Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Modern emphasis on efficiency often prioritizes working smarter, not harder.
  • The potential impact of effort exertion on psychological wellbeing and perceived meaning remains an important question.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the causal relationship between effort exertion and feelings of meaning and purpose.
  • To explore potential mechanisms, such as competence and mastery, underlying the effort-meaning link.

Main Methods:

  • Six studies (N=2883) manipulated effort levels in tasks, including hypothetical scenarios, inherently difficult tasks, and tasks with/without AI assistance.
  • Participants rated the meaningfulness of tasks based on their perceived effort.
  • Cognitive dissonance and the effort-meaning relationship's shape were also examined.

Main Results:

  • Across studies, increased effort (real or imagined) consistently led to greater perceived task meaningfulness.
  • This positive relationship was observed up to a certain threshold, as indicated in Study 6.
  • Effort was linked to feelings of competence and mastery, though evidence was preliminary.

Conclusions:

  • Effort is a significant source of personal meaning and value, not merely a cost.
  • The findings suggest a causal pathway where effort directly enhances perceived meaning.
  • Cognitive dissonance was not supported as an explanation for the observed effects.