| dc.description.abstract | Mental effort is a familiar sensation that may include feelings of strain or tension, mental workload, or a general unpleasant phenomenology. Subjective experiences of mental effort are important to investigate because these feelings may prompt individuals to disengage from difficult tasks or avoid starting them in the first place. The current research tested one factor that may reduce the sensation of mental effort—performance incentives. Performance incentives, such as monetary reward, are known to increase motivation and performance on tasks. However, it is not clear how performance incentives impact the subjective experience of mental effort. On the one hand, incentives may increase the physiological effort allocated to a task, which in turn may increase feelings of mental effort. On the other hand, incentives may reduce the costs associated with effort expenditure, which may in turn reduce feelings of effort. The current research tested the effect of performance incentives on subjective experiences of mental effort across three studies. In Studies 1 and 2, participants completed mentally challenging tasks with either monetary incentives for good performance or no incentive. Results revealed that incentives increased feelings of effort (Studies 1 and 2) and fatigue and unpleasant affect (Study 1). Study 3 tested the effect of a monetary incentive on feelings of effort and performance over an extended period of time. Results revealed that, across time, feelings of effort increased and performance decreased. The incentive reduced aversive feelings associated with effort and buffered against performance decline. I discuss potential explanations for the divergent effect of incentives on feelings of mental effort across studies and propose avenues for future research. | en |
