The fatigue illusion: the physical effects of mindlessness

Abstract

Attitudes that are blindly adopted, termed premature cognitive commitments, can place unnecessary limitations on how we perceive and engage in the world around us, including how we perceive fatigue. Fatigue is still widely treated as a somatic reaction, caused by physical limitations. In contrast to this, our hypothesis, based on Langer’s mind/body unity theory, states that people perceive fatigue at proportional milestones during a task, regardless of how long it is, how strenuous it is, or whether it is physical or cognitive, and that fatigue can be manipulated psychologically. Five studies were designed to investigate (a) whether or not proportional perceptions of fatigue, or fatigue milestones, exists, rendering fatigue an illusion and (b) whether perceptions of fatigue are malleable by way of Langerian mindfulness, offering individuals control in the management of fatigue. Study 1 introduced a fatigue scale and used retrospective perceptions about travel-fatigue. Study 2 added an objective measure of physical fatigue in a cognitive task. Study 3 tested the illusion of fatigue on an athlete population in a physical task. Study 4 included the Langer Mindfulness Scale to further study subjective perceptions of fatigue in physical tasks. Study 5 tested mindful interventions on fatigue. The findings indicate that (a) an illusion of fatigue exists, with proportional set-in and peak milestones, what we label the fatigue illusion and (b) constructs of Langerian mindfulness offer individuals control over the timing, amount, and even the experience of fatigue.