Another Study Just Proved The Amotivational Syndrome Theory Wrong

Have you ever heard of amotivational syndrome? This theory states that excessive and long-term cannabis use leads to detachment, blunted emotion, and drive. The reasoning behind this lies within the brain functions like memory and attention span. 

Emphasizing “theory,” this notion was never solidified as 100% accurate. While weed can make someone tired and lethargic depending on the choice of strain, what time it is, and how long they’ve smoked that day, there’s no scientific evidence that proves this theory is true. 

One research team concluded the trial and found that frequent marijuana smokers have a higher chance of going after harder-to-achieve goals. 

The study was conducted by a research team from the University of Memphis and was published in the journal Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. The researchers gathered 47 college students who were half marijuana smokers and half non-users. They asked them to take part in a behavioral analysis called the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task.

It’s quite common for studies like this to use “divergent methodology” and not have “controlled for key confounding variables,” which is why the researchers wanted to do the opposite. After some analysis, the researchers found that “past-month cannabis days and cannabis use disorder symptoms predicted the likelihood of selecting a high-effort trial.”

This solely means that individuals using cannabis more often were more likely to go after a goal that was more difficult to achieve and show higher amounts of motivation than non-users. 

Furthermore, the researchers wrote that in this preliminary evidence, they found that “college students who use cannabis are more likely to expend effort to obtain reward, even after controlling for the magnitude of the reward and the probability of reward receipt.”

Finally, the team concluded that “these results do not support the amotivational syndrome hypothesis.” They added that even though there wasn’t much of a difference between these two groups besides cannabis use, “there was a medium-sized effect, lending consistent support for an association between cannabis use and greater high-effort choices.”

There was one variable sticking out like a sore thumb, and the team said that based on the results from both groups, cannabis users did not show “impairment-free goal-directed behavior,” meaning one could be impaired and not use critical thinking when examining the effort of reaching challenging goals.