home.jpg
quantum-brain-waves.jpg
publications.jpg
news.jpg
toronto-www-sm-p.jpg
home.jpg

Work And Play Lab


SCROLL DOWN

Work And Play Lab


Why does empathy feel like hard work? Why do we avoid effort yet find it meaningful? How is technology reshaping our motivation, empathy, and well-being?

The Work and Play Lab uses methods from social psychology and cognitive science to understand the mental effort we use to reach our goals and how we spend our leisure time. Our recent research explores the effort paradox, empathy avoidance, and AI's surprising compassion (work) as well as how social media increases boredom and polarization, and the real effects of chronic cannabis use (play). We're committed to open and transparent science, publicly posting data and materials, preregistering studies, and running replications.

Work/Play
quantum-brain-waves.jpg

About Michael


SCROLL DOWN

About Michael


Michael Inzlicht is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto, where he is also cross-appointed as a Professor in the Rotman School of Management and a Faculty Affiliate at the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology & Society. Recognized as among the top 1% of most-cited psychologists in the world for three consecutive years (2022-2024), Michael is passionate about open science and making psychology accessible through podcasts and public engagement.

 
publications.jpg

Publications


SCROLL DOWN

Publications


Recent Publications

Featured
Shold PhD students drink more? [PDF]

Inzlicht, M. (in press). Theory and Society.

How individual differences in empathy predict moments of empathy in everyday life [PDF]

Depow, G.J., & Inzlicht, M. (in press). Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

Effort paradox redux: Rethinking how effort shapes social behavior [pdf]

Inzlicht, M., Campbell, A.V., & Saunders, B. (in press). Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.

news.jpg

News


SCROLL DOWN

News


Featured News

News for Front
Doing it the hard way
Doing it the hard way

Learning to play a musical instrument is hard. So is trying to run a marathon, writing a term paper, and caring for a sick child. These things involve frustration, pain, and disappointment — yet we do them anyway. In part two of Hidden Brain’s look at the allure of suffering, psychologist Michael Inzlicht explains what we get from doing things that are difficult, and why the things we think will make us happy often do not.

Listen Here

Staying focused in a world full of distractions
Staying focused in a world full of distractions

Can I Have Your Attention, Please? A U of T Scarborough psychology professor explores why we’re more distracted than ever – and proposes a path to deeper engagement and lasting satisfaction.

Read More

The Paradox of Hard Work
The Paradox of Hard Work

Why do people enjoy doing difficult things?

“You can imagine that some people are willing to work hard, but go about it from a sense of duty and responsibility,” Inzlicht told me for my New York Times story. “But other people—call them ‘joyful workers’—this is what they live for. This is what gives them purpose. This is what makes them feel important. This is what helps them make the world make sense.” The existence of “joyful workers” suggests that, even if the Effort Paradox applies to everyone, it doesn’t apply equally. Where you sit on the Meaningfulness-of-Effort scale probably reflects a changeable mix of nature and nurture.

Read More Here

toronto-www-sm-p.jpg

Contact


SCROLL DOWN

Contact


Michael Inzlicht

Department of Psychology
University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail
Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4
Canada

Email: michael.inzlicht@utoronto.ca