Concept of mental fatigue in lay people: a survey-based examination using situational vignettes

Abstract

Abstract Background. Mental fatigue is a common subjective experience, often caused by prolonged mental workload. While there are several scientific theories about the nature of fatigue and its causes, no previous studies have examined laypeople’s opinions on what task characteristics they consider as main causes of mental fatigue. Therefore, this study explores laypeople's concepts of fatigue using situational vignettes. Methods. Participants read descriptions of administrative tasks with low (n = 212) or high workload (n = 177) and rated 1) which general task characteristics are involved, and 2) which task characteristics most likely cause fatigue. Participants’ mood states were also assessed, namely anxiety, depression, and fatigue catastrophizing. Mixed-ANOVA, robust regression, and exploratory factor analysis were used to analyse the data. Results and Conclusion. The analyses revealed significant links between fatigue and task characteristics, indicating that underload (e.g. boredom) as well as overload (e.g. energy demand) were considered particularly fatiguing. On the one hand, fatigue was associated with feeling of boredom, drowsiness or discouraging experienced during a prolonged task, and on the other hand, with the difficulty, the energetic demand of the task. In general, the results suggest that non-scientific opinions are diverse regarding the potential causes of fatigue.