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When do we experience effort?
Eleanor Holton1, Richard Holton2
1Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, USA.
Synthese
|January 9, 2026
Summary
The experience of effort arises from resisting internal signals like hunger or pain, not just costs. This new perspective offers a better understanding of subjective effort and its underlying mechanisms.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Philosophy of Mind
Background:
- Current theories often define the experience of effort based on costs.
- These cost-based accounts may not fully capture the subjective nature of effort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel framework for understanding the experience of effort.
- To differentiate the subjective experience of effort from the concept of effort itself.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of existing theories on effort.
- Argumentation based on psychological and neuroscientific principles.
Main Results:
- The experience of effort is best understood as arising from the resistance to affective, behavior-guiding signals.
- This includes signals such as hunger, pain, fatigue, and anxiety.
- This affective-resistance model is presented as superior to cost-based accounts.
Conclusions:
- The proposed model offers a more satisfactory explanation for the subjective experience of effort.
- It is crucial to distinguish between the experience of effort and effort as a construct.
- Avoid reifying effort as an independent entity.
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