Toward a theory of conscious–nonconscious processing and getting hard (and easy) things done in everyday life.

Abstract

Much of everyday life consists of obligatory long-term behaviors, from work itself to doing dishes. Although some activities (e.g., exercise) are harder than others, even the seemingly easy activities can turn into hard ones when repeated monotonously day after day. It is proposed that this paradox has its roots in two fundamental human tendencies: (a) following the path of least resistance and (b) avoiding monotony, boredom, and even stimulus deprivation. How does the human mind operate in the presence of these tendencies to get everyday tasks and activities completed? The first tendency is manifested in gradual reduction of conscious processing and incremental increase in nonconscious processing. Constant repeats of demanding behaviors reduce cognitive strain and energy consumption, enhancing automaticity through the strengthened cue-behavior link. Automaticity in turn makes task performance easier and more efficient, resulting in a greater likelihood of getting everyday behaviors done. However, the sheer repeating of behavior is not enough; rather, a key is to repeat-with-variety, which posits that conscious interjection of variability into routine patterns facilitates the completion of both demanding and nondemanding behaviors in the long run. It is important, however, that such conscious intervention does not activate a sense of freedom about engagement because if it did, the elevated sense of freedom would undermine attempts to repeat behaviors and complete tasks. Understanding task completion also requires a consideration of the object of consciousness: Being unconscious of the mental processes motivating an action but conscious of the experience of doing the action.

Leisure and meaning in life

“…As such, results supported a 2-vector theory of leisure motivation (Iso-Ahola, 1989, 2022, according to which people use leisure to seek personal rewards from engagement and to simultaneously escape personal problems and the routine environment (not just work) on one hand and to use leisure to seek interpersonal rewards by doing things with friends but simultaneously escaping or leaving the routine interpersonal world behind on the other. In other words, leisure engagement brings meaning to people's lives, because it enables them to pursue personal rewards in skillful activities and interpersonal rewards in social interaction with friends, but also at the same time allows them to escape or leave behind every day personal issues and usual interpersonal contacts.…”

Cats just want to have fun: Associations between play and welfare in domestic cats

“…Similarly for humans, only engaging in a small number of games with their cats may lead guardians to experience boredom and dissatisfaction with play, potentially resulting in guardians playing less with their cats. It has previously been found that routine behaviours, which a person feels obligated to perform, undermine their sense of self and freedom (Iso-Ahola 2022 ). However, these negative aspects can be mitigated by increasing the variety in, and of, these behaviours, such as undertaking a variety of different activities that achieve the same purpose (Iso-Ahola 2022 ).…”

“…It has previously been found that routine behaviours, which a person feels obligated to perform, undermine their sense of self and freedom (Iso-Ahola 2022 ). However, these negative aspects can be mitigated by increasing the variety in, and of, these behaviours, such as undertaking a variety of different activities that achieve the same purpose (Iso-Ahola 2022 ). Tasks that require too little cognitive engagement (such as repeating the same wand toy game with a cat) also can become boring and aversive, leading people to either disengage with the task or seek to enhance variety and novelty (Shenhav et al .…”

Science of psychological phenomena and their testing.

“…When he/she leaves the day’s work behind, he/she continues this balancing act between leisure and work. Although nonconscious repeating makes task completion more efficient and cognitively less demanding, evidence suggests that people seek to “repeat with variety” either by switching activities or adding elements of variety within an activity already undertaken (Iso-Ahola, 2022a). In this way, the interplay of conscious and nonconscious processing gets everyday tasks completed and rewarding experiences had.…”