Motivation Science, Vol 11(4), Dec 2025, 425-438; doi:10.1037/mot0000393
Subjective mental effort is often conceptualized as an inherently costly and aversive phenomenon, but there is ongoing consideration about whether it can also be enjoyable. We explored whether subjective mental effort can be both a pleasant or aversive state depending on how it is conceptualized and measured. Through separate measures, we conceptualized subjective mental effort as driven by task demands (i.e., demanded effort; the amount of work required to do well on a task; Hart & Staveland, 1988) and pure effort expended on a task without reference to what was compelled by the task (i.e., invested effort; the amount of work put forth irrespective of task demands; Ryan, 1982). In two studies (total N = 902), participants read several cognitively demanding passages and then reported their invested effort, demanded effort, and other hedonically valenced subjective experiences (e.g., pleasant affect, frustration). We hypothesized that invested effort and demanded effort would relate with one another and with a core experience of subjective mental effort, but that demanded (vs. invested) effort would correspond with hedonically unpleasant (vs. pleasant) and mentally depleted (vs. motivated) experiences. Results from both studies supported this idea, revealing that the conceptual profiles of demanded and invested effort diverged moderately or strongly. Our findings suggest that the hedonic aversiveness of subjective mental effort may depend on whether it is conceptualized as a demanded (vs. invested) phenomenon. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)