Task Aversiveness

What is Task Aversiveness?

Task aversiveness refers to actions that we find unpleasant.

The more aversive a task is the more we try to avoid it. (Steel 2007)

There is a consistent link between finding a task unpleasant and procrastination.

It is thought that task aversiveness is not only dependent on the task being unpleasant but also on the anticipated results of the action.

When we decide to do a task we go through several steps

• We think about it

• Plan it

• Act on it

• Finish it

It is also possible that we find only some parts of the task aversive.

The initial stages involve decision-making. Acting on the project involves discipline and willpower. And finishing the project could be associated with fear of being judged negatively by others.

Factors that influence if we find a task aversive or pleasurable are:

• Boredom, frustration, resentment

• Pleasure and enjoyment of the task

• Organisation of the task

• Lack of autonomy

• Stress and negative emotions associated with the task. (Blunt et al. 2000)

Lack of planning skills and using inefficient methods to produce results are common with procrastination. If you use the wrong techniques for a task then it will feel unpleasant. It could also make us feel incompetent and that our efforts are futile.

To address these issues it is crucial to master goal-setting planning as well as high-yield efficient ways of acting on our plans.

Emotions and Task Aversiveness

Since task aversiveness involves emotions, it is important to have some understanding of what emotions are and how we attempt to regulate them.

Emotion is a way of reacting in response to something. It involves the subjective experience of feeling it, behavioural response, and physiological response. (Gross 2014)

Emotions are linked to our beliefs about self, others, and the world. And sometimes the key to addressing our overwhelming emotions is to analyse our beliefs.

We get negative emotions when our beliefs don't match with the results we get in reality.

Imagine that you think that you must understand any written idea from the very first instant you read it. What happens if you read a difficult convoluted idea that you don't understand on the first try? You will likely get a negative emotional response of frustration and anger.

Beliefs are discussed in the Self-Limiting Beliefs post.

Emotion Regulation Theory

Emotional regulation is changing our emotional response to a particular situation.

The aim is to change the intensity, duration, frequency, and how we experience emotions and react to them. (Gross 2014)

We usually try to reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions. (Gross 2015)

Process Model of Emotion Regulation*

How we react to an event

There are 4 steps of how we react to an event and 5 ways we can regulate our emotions.

The stages that involve our emotional reaction to an event are:

• Situation

• Attention

• Appraisal

• Response. (Gross 2014)

Imagine you are queuing in a line in a shop.

If the line is really long and somebody cuts into it somewhere in the front where you cannot see it, you will not get any emotional response burst (aside from emotions linked to standing in a boring tedious queue). So noticing a potentially emotionally distressing event in a situation is the key next step.

At this point, you will start making sense of the situation and start thinking emotionally distressing thoughts.

This is not fair, we are all waiting here how can you be so rude and cut the line?

Lastly, you will react to the situation by either speaking up and confronting the person or seething with suppressed anger inside.

What steps we can take to change how we feel?

There are 5 ways we can use to regulate our emotional state.

• Avoid or make situations more likely to happen

We procrastinate on tasks that are unpleasant. So the first way to prevent us from feeling bad is to avoid starting the task in the first place. Of course, the tasks we usually procrastinate on are not avoidable and catch up to us eventually.

• Change the situation so it's not as distressing

If we manage to start studying then we try to make the task not as unpleasant. We study things that we already know and make us feel good or do something simpler that is distantly related to the task to give ourselves an excuse that we are doing some work.

• Change what you pay attention to

This is another problematic area if used incorrectly. We can shift attention within the task to make it more bearable but usually what happens is that we distract ourselves with things that have nothing to do with the task.

• Change how you think about the task

Often negative emotions come as the result of our self-limiting beliefs - Perfectionism, Fear of Failure, Fear of being judged, etc. If we overcome these beliefs we would feel much less aversive to the task.

• Change how you respond to the situation

Consciously decide to do something to change our biological and behavioural reactions. Take action to make ourselves feel better so we can continue with the task. (Gross 2014)

Conclusion

Task aversiveness plays an important role in Procrastination. To minimise Task Aversiveness, it is important to adopt efficient methods and learn how to regulate our emotions.

References

Steel, P. (2007). The nature of procrastination: A meta-analytic and theoretical review of quintessential self-regulatory failure. Psychological Bulletin, 133(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.1.65

Blunt, A. K., & Pychyl, T. A. (2000). Task aversiveness and procrastination: A multi-dimensional approach to task aversiveness across stages of personal projects. Personality and Individual Differences, 28(1), 153–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00091-4

Gross James. Handbook of Emotion Regulation, 2nd edition, 2014.

Gross, J. J. (2015). The extended process model of emotion regulation: Elaborations, applications, and future directions. Psychological Inquiry, 26(1), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.1080/1047840X.2015.989751