← all facts
behavior
You value a goal more when it requires significant effort.
A 1959 study demonstrated that individuals rated a discussion group as more interesting if they had to undergo an embarrassing initiation to join it.
This is a form of self-justification; the brain cannot admit we exerted effort for something worthless. Therefore, we convince ourselves that the experience was meaningful to align our beliefs with our past actions.
We do not love what we choose, we love what we suffer for.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Aronson & Mills, 1959, Effort Justification
- What the check found
- Aronson and Mills (1959) is a seminal study in social psychology. It confirmed that participants who underwent a severe initiation to join a group rated that group as more attractive than those who did not.
- Confidence
- Well replicated
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.