Theoretical accounts typically posit that variability in social behaviour is a function of capacity limits. We argue that many social behaviours are goal-directed and effortful, and thus variability is not just a function of capacity, but also motivation. Leveraging recent work examining the cognitive, computational and neural basis of effort processing, we put forward a framework for motivated social cognition. We argue that social cognition is demanding, people avoid its effort costs, and a core-circuit of brain areas that guides effort-based decisions in non-social situations may similarly evaluate whether social behaviours are worth the effort. Thus, effort sensitivity dissociates capacity limits from social motivation, and may be a driver of individual differences and pathological impairments in social cognition.

从理论上讲，社会行为的可变性通常是能力极限的函数。我们认为，许多社会行为是目标导向且努力的，因此可变性不仅是能力的函数，而且是动机。利用近期研究工作量处理的认知，计算和神经基础的工作，我们提出了动机性社会认知的框架。我们认为，社会认知是必需的，人们避免了其付出的努力成本，而在非社会情况下指导基于努力的决策的大脑区域的核心电​​路可能会类似地评估社会行为是否值得付出努力。因此，努力的敏感性使能力限制与社会动机脱节，并且可能是社会认知中个体差异和病理障碍的驱动因素。