Cannabis smokers, who have traditionally been called “stoners”, have had long-standing reputations for being both lazy and unproductive to society. However, a recent study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science by team of researchers from the University of Toronto hopes to challenge this long-standing stereotype as they conducted a survey study with the goal of ascertaining the emotional and motivational results of getting high from cannabis. This study holds the potential to help scientists, legislators, and the public better understand the stigma behind cannabis and steps that can be taken to mitigate it.
For the study, the researchers enlisted 260 participants who were chronic cannabis users and conducted survey using an app on their high status, along with their emotional and motivational well-being and ability to exert self-induced effort. The goal was to ascertain how much the users stayed motivated while completing tasks while they were high. In the end, the researchers found that the users exerted the same level of motivation when completing tsks during both times of high and not high.
“There is a stereotype that chronic cannabis users are somehow lazy or unproductive,” said Michael Inzlicht, who is a Professor Psychology at the University of Toronto Scarborough and lead author of the study. “We found that’s not the case — their behaviors might change a bit in the moment while they’re high, but our evidence shows they are not lazy or lacking motivation at all.”
Ever since cannabis became legal across Canada in 2018, this has enabled research into its effects far easier to accomplish, with this study looking to mitigate the negative stereotype of cannabis smokers being both lazy and unmotivated.
What new discoveries will researchers make about cannabis high and motivation in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Social Psychological and Personality Science, EurekAlert!, University of Toronto Scarborough
