Learned Industriousness as a Translational Mechanism of Excess Goal Pursuit: An Example in Eating Disorders

Researchers have long grappled to understand the persistence of behaviors that are non-hedonic and, ostensibly, aversive. At times, such behaviors can be taken to excess in the form of psychopathology. Eating disorders characterize a prototype of psychiatric disorders in which behaviors that most people find unpleasant (e.g., restrictive eating, excessive exercise) are rigidly and repeatedly performed. The learned industriousness theory, which has roots in behavioral neuroscience, provides a theoretical account for such phenomena. Informed by humans and animal data, this theory posits that effort (intense physical or mental activity) can be conditioned to acquire secondary rewarding properties through repeatedly pairing high-effort behavior with reward. Over time, effort sensations would become less aversive and more appetitive because they signal impending reward, increasing eagerness to engage in effortful behavior. In this manuscript we: 1) review biobehavioral data supporting learned industriousness; 2) highlight evidence that this theory may account for persistence of certain eating disorder behaviors; and 3) consider clinical and research implications of this model, including the translation to other psychiatric presentations.