The sense of effort

•Exerting ‘effort’ or ‘self-control’ is experienced as aversive.•This is mysterious insofar as exerting self-control is beneficial, not harmful.•Models explaining effort propose that there is some cost to exerting self-control.•Debate remains about the nature of the costs of exerting control.

Exerting ‘effort’ or ‘self-control’ is experienced as aversive. From an evolutionary point of view, this is something of a mystery insofar as aversive phenomenology is usually associated with fitness costs or threats, whereas exerting self-control seems to be associated with positive outcomes. Recent theorizing surrounding the sense of effort suggests that there are costs to exerting effort, and these costs explain the accompanying unpleasant sensations. Debate remains, however, about the nature of and the mechanisms underlying these costs.