Effort norms encourage more exertion but not less

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• The law of least effort suggests individuals prefer minimal exertion for rewards.
• Previous research often overlooks social influences on effort, despite humans being social beings shaped by group norms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether individuals conform equally to high-effort and low-effort social norms.
• To determine if the direction of a norm (high vs. low effort) affects its influence on behavior.

Main Methods:

• 12 studies involving 1,957 participants completing a demand selection task.
• Participants repeatedly chose between a difficult or easy task.
• Experimental manipulation involved informing participants about the choices of previous participants.

Main Results:

• Participants exerted significantly more effort when informed that others chose the harder task.
• When informed that others chose the easier task, participants did not reduce effort and even increased it.
• Effort levels remained unchanged compared to a control group, even when low effort was made more appealing.

Conclusions:

• Individuals readily conform to high-effort norms but resist conforming to low-effort norms.
• Social influence can inspire increased effort, but there is a strong resistance to decreasing effort below typical levels.
• Normative influence on effort is specific to the task, suggesting context-dependent effects.