Which cognitive bias affects how we perceive the consequences of our actions based on the effort we put in?

Justification of effort is the cognitive bias that influences how we perceive the outcomes of our actions based on the amount of effort we’ve invested. When individuals put significant effort into a task or goal, they are likely to rationalize that the outcome must be worthwhile or valuable, even if the result is not as favorable as expected. This bias helps individuals maintain a sense of self-worth and validation, as it aligns their effort with a positive appraisal of the results. For example, if someone studies intensely for a difficult exam and ends up with a mediocre score, they may convince themselves that the experience was worth it, emphasizing what they learned rather than focusing solely on the outcome.

In contrast, cognitive dissonance addresses the discomfort individuals feel when their beliefs and actions are in conflict, self-serving bias pertains to how we attribute successes to our own abilities and failures to external factors, and mental set refers to a tendency to approach problems in a specific way, often based on past experiences. Each of these concepts influences cognition but does not directly relate to the perception of effort and outcomes as distinctly as justification of effort does.