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Monotonous tasks require self-control because they interfere with endogenous reward

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 December 2013

George Ainslie
George Ainslie*
Affiliation:
School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa; and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Coatesville, PA 19320. George.Ainslie@va.govwww.picoeconomics.org
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Abstract

Self-control is a necessary component of subjective effort, but it depends only on farsighted motivation, with no additional, depletable resource. The aversiveness of boring tasks probably comes from their interference with endogenous reward, a new and potentially controversial concept. The self-control needed to stick with any kind of aversive experience increases as the values of the competing motives draw closer together.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 36 , Issue 6 , December 2013 , pp. 679 - 680
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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