| Asian people are more comfortable with mental effort, study suggests |
| A new review published in the journal Psychological Bulletin suggests that the greater the mental effort, the more individuals experience frustration, irritation, stress, or annoyance. The review analysed 170 studies involving 4,670 people from various backgrounds and found that heavy mental exertion can create unpleasant feelings. However, the association between mental effort and unpleasant feelings varies between regions, with less pronounced effects in Asian countries. This could be because high schoolers in Asia tend to spend more time on schoolwork than their peers in Europe or North America, and may have learned to withstand higher levels of mental exertion earlier in their lives. Despite the feelings of unpleasantness, people still engage in mentally challenging tasks, possibly because they anticipate rewards. Managers and teachers should be aware that people generally dislike mental effort, even if they choose to pursue mentally challenging activities. “Our findings show that mental effort feels unpleasant across a wide range of populations and tasks,” said senior researcher Erik Bijleveld, an associate professor of psychology with Radboud University in the Netherlands. “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,” Bijleveld added. |
|
