Have you ever decided not to pursue a task that is supposed to be, objectively, a good decision? Decided against eaten that apple (instead of a doughnut), not pressed the button to turn off Netflix at 11:56 pm? Gaia Corlazzoli, Wim Gevers and Kobe Desender (KULeuven) investigated the interaction between subjective experience and objective factors underlying the decision to invest cognitive control. What is the role of subjective factors such as confidence, satisfaction, and perceived physical effort when deciding whether a task should be pursued in the future? The researchers found that these subjective experiences are better predictors of whether a person will invest in a specific task in the future than their objectively measurable counterparts.

You can find out more in their new article in Cognition!

 

Corlazzoli G, Desender K, Gevers W. Feeling and deciding: Subjective experiences rather than objective factors drive the decision to invest cognitive control. Cognition. 2023 Nov; 240:105587. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2023.105587. Epub 2023 Aug 17.

 

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