As people’s mental effort increases, so do negative feelings: study

Nijmegen, Netherlands — “The greater the mental effort, the greater the unpleasantness experienced by participants,” a recent study by Dutch researchers concludes.

They looked at 170 studies from 29 countries that involved more than 4,600 participants. After engaging in nearly 400 different cognitive tasks such as learning a new technology or navigating an unfamiliar environment, the participants reported their level of mental effort and any negative feelings such as frustration or stress.

“Our findings show that mental effort feels unpleasant across a wide range of populations and tasks,” study co-author Erik Bijleveld, an associate professor at Radboud University, said in a press release. “This is important for professionals, such as engineers and educators, to keep in mind when designing tasks, tools, interfaces, apps, materials or instructions. When people are required to exert substantial mental effort, you need to make sure to support or reward them for their effort.”

The study was published online in the journal Psychological Bulletin.