A new review shows that when people say a tough problem is making their brain hurt, they are not exaggerating.
It was discovered that mental effort can lead to unpleasant feelings in many cases. The study was reported on August 5 in the journal Psychological Bulletin.
The findings showed that the more a person tries to think hard, the more they feel frustration, irritation, stress, or annoyance.
“Our study reveals that mental effort feels unpleasant for many people in different situations,” said Erik Bijleveld, a psychology professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands.
“This is crucial for professionals, like engineers and teachers, to remember when creating tasks or tools. If people need to use a lot of brainpower, they should be supported or rewarded,” Bijleveld added in a news release.
In the review, researchers looked at 170 studies from 2019 to 2020 that involved 4,670 people.
Participants came from various backgrounds, including healthcare workers, soldiers, amateur athletes, and students from 29 countries.
More than 350 different brain tasks were studied, such as learning new technology, navigating unfamiliar places, practicing golf, or playing virtual reality games.
The combined results showed that heavy mental effort can lead to unpleasant feelings.
However, the connection between mental effort and these feelings was less strong in Asian countries compared to Europe or North America.
This might be because students in Asia spend more time on schoolwork, which helps them handle mental effort better from a young age.
Researchers found it interesting that despite the unpleasant feelings, people still choose mentally challenging tasks.
“For instance, why do millions of people play chess?” Bijleveld asked. “People may learn that hard thinking can lead to rewards. If the benefits of playing chess outweigh the effort, people may still choose to play and say they enjoy it.”
“But this doesn’t mean they enjoy the effort itself,” he added. “People might choose challenging tasks despite the effort, not because they like the effort.”
Managers and teachers should remember this when encouraging others to take on tough tasks.
“On the surface, it looks like employees and students like mentally challenging activities,” Bijleveld said. “You might think they enjoy thinking hard, but our results suggest they actually don’t. Generally, people dislike mental effort.”
Mental Effort and Unpleasant Feelings:
Mental effort refers to the use of a lot of brainpower to solve problems or learn new things.
Causes: Tasks that are new, complex, or require a lot of thinking.
Symptoms and Signs: Frustration, irritation, stress, and annoyance.
Treatment and Management:
- Medications: There are no specific drugs to reduce mental effort discomfort, but stress-relief medications might help.
- Alternative Treatments: Mindfulness, meditation, and regular breaks can help manage the stress from mental effort.
- Complementary Treatments: Encouraging physical activities, hobbies, and social interactions to reduce stress.
Key Insights:
- Mental effort often leads to unpleasant feelings.
- Different cultures experience mental effort differently, with Asian students better handling it due to their learning habits.
- People might engage in mentally challenging activities for the rewards, not because they enjoy the effort itself.
- Professionals should support or reward people when asking them to do mentally demanding tasks.
Source: Journal Psychological Bulletin, August 5.