The allocation of limited life resources: effects of mortality awareness and hedonic vs. Eudaimonic orientation on cognitive effort

When confronted with the realization of life’s transience, do individuals increase effort or indulge? This study explored how mortality awareness influences cognitive effort allocation and its underlying mechanisms through two experiments. Mortality awareness significantly increased cognitive effort by compressing time perception, which fully mediated this effect (Experiment 1). Hedonic vs. eudaimonic Orientation moderated this impact: mortality awareness decreased cognitive effort under hedonic orientation activation but increased it under eudaimonic orientation (Experiment 2). The influence of mortality awareness on cognitive effort allocation may unfold in different directions, and eudaimonic and hedonic orientations serve as key value-based moderators in this process. The authors propose a psychological cost–benefit trade-off model to explain the mechanism underlying cognitive effort allocation.