SCIENTISTS say we should take it easy because thinking too hard really does strain your brain. A study found we quickly get stressed and annoyed when making a big mental effort. Experts said bosses and teachers should lay off their workers and students.
The research, called “The Unpleasantness of Thinking”, analysed 170 studies involving 4,670 people in 29 countries. It found that people scored feelings of frustration higher when they did more difficult tasks. Study author Dr Erik Bijleveld, from Radboud University in the Netherlands, said: “In general, people really dislike mental effort.
“Managers often encourage employees to exert mental effort. “On the surface, this seems to work well so you may be tempted to think that employees tend to enjoy thinking hard. “Our results suggest that this conclusion would be false.
” People should be rewarded for substantial mental effort The studies included people from all walks of life such as health service and military staff, university students and sportspeople. Most read in Health They were given various tasks like learning new technology, practising golf swings or playing games. Writing in the journal Psychological Bulletin, Dr Bijleveld said: “Our main finding is that mental effort is strongly associated with negative feeling.
“We found this association in all types of tasks and all types of populations, including experienced professionals and university-educated people.” 'Half of Brits feel overworked' A 2023 .