A recent study challenges the stereotype that chronic cannabis users are lazy and unmotivated. Published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, the study provides evidence that regular cannabis users exhibit significant motivation in their daily lives, despite experiencing some reductions in certain aspects of conscientiousness when high.
Cannabis — colloquially known as marijuana, weed, or pot — is used in various forms, such as smoking dried leaves, consuming edibles, and using oils. Cannabis contains compounds called cannabinoids, with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) being the primary psychoactive ingredient. This compound is responsible for the “high” that users experience, which can include alterations in perception, mood, and consciousness. Other effects can range from relaxation and euphoria to anxiety and paranoia, depending on the individual and the context of use.
Globally, cannabis stands as the fourth most used recreational drug after caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. Its increasing legalization and decriminalization in many regions have shifted public and scientific interest towards understanding its broader impacts on health, lifestyle, and behavior. This shifting landscape has sparked debates about the potential benefits and risks of habitual cannabis use, moving the conversation beyond its historical stigma as merely a substance of abuse.
In their new study, researchers from University of Toronto sought to investigate the pervasive stereotype that paints chronic cannabis users as unmotivated and unproductive, commonly referred to as the “lazy stoner” stereotype. This stereotype suggests that habitual cannabis users exhibit lower levels of energy, ambition, and productivity. Such assumptions have not only influenced public opinion but have also shaped regulatory policies and scientific inquiry, which has traditionally focused on the negative implications of cannabis use.
“The cannabis literature, historically, tended to focus a lot on the negative medical consequences of chronic use,” explained Michael Inzlicht, a professor at the University of Toronto Scarborough who led the study. “Part of the motivation for this study is to take a neutral, clear-eyed approach to see how cannabis affects chronic users in their everyday lives.”
The researchers employed a method called experience sampling to investigate the real-time effects of cannabis on habitual users. This involves prompting participants to report their experiences and behaviors at random times throughout the day, providing a snapshot of daily life and reducing the bias often associated with retrospective reporting. This approach is particularly suitable for studying the effects of substances like cannabis, which can have immediate and transient effects on mood, cognition, and behavior.
To conduct the study, participants were recruited from online platforms, particularly from Reddit, which hosts a variety of communities interested in diverse topics, including cannabis. Eligible participants were those over the age of 21, living in the United States or Canada, and who used cannabis at least three times a week for recreational purposes. The researchers ensured that participants were not using cannabis for medical reasons to focus on recreational use impacts.
Once enrolled, participants undertook a baseline survey that captured detailed information about their usual cannabis usage, personality traits, and other psychological measures. Following this, they entered the experience sampling phase of the study, which lasted one week. During this period, participants received five surveys daily through their mobile devices, distributed randomly between 10 a.m. and 11 p.m.
Each survey inquired whether they were currently feeling high and asked them to complete assessments measuring their current emotional state, levels of motivation, and aspects of conscientiousness. These surveys provided data on both the state effects of being high (changes while under the influence) and the trait effects (differences between individuals with varying usage patterns).
The final sample included 260 participants who completed both an initial baseline questionnaire and at least one experience sampling survey over the course of the study. From these participants, a total of 3,701 individual survey responses were gathered.
Contrary to the prevailing view of cannabis users as inherently unmotivated, the results indicated that regular cannabis use does not significantly diminish motivation. The data showed no significant difference in motivation levels when users were high versus not high. Interestingly, there was no substantial decrease in the participants’ willingness to exert mental effort when high, as measured by a task that involved choosing between easy and challenging tasks for varying levels of reward.
This finding is particularly interesting as it suggests that frequent cannabis use does not lead to an “amotivational syndrome,” a commonly assumed effect where chronic users are thought to exhibit decreased ambition and drive.
While overall levels of responsibility and industriousness were not significantly affected, cannabis use did appear to impact other facets of conscientiousness. Users reported lower levels of self-control and orderliness when high. They also displayed a decreased adherence to traditionalism and virtue, suggesting that being high might loosen their adherence to societal norms and personal ethics to some extent.
However, these effects on conscientiousness did not translate into a significant impact on the users’ ability to perform tasks or fulfill their responsibilities, indicating that while cannabis might alter certain personal and social behaviors temporarily, it does not necessarily impair functional, day-to-day behavior.
“There is a stereotype that chronic cannabis users are somehow lazy or unproductive,” said Inzlicht, who runs the Work and Play Lab, which does research on self-control, motivation and empathy as well as social media, digital device and recreational cannabis use. “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.”
Another notable finding was that while being high, participants reported a significant increase in positive emotions such as awe, gratitude, and happiness. These emotions were consistently higher when participants were under the influence of cannabis compared to their sober state. This increase in positive emotional states suggests that the immediate effects of cannabis can enhance feelings of well-being and pleasure among habitual users.
However, the study also uncovered some complexities in the emotional landscape of chronic cannabis users. Very frequent users—those who used cannabis almost daily—exhibited higher levels of negative emotions like disgust, scorn, and embarrassment compared to less frequent users. This indicates that while cannabis can increase positive emotions, high frequency of use might also be associated with greater negative emotional states.
Another interesting aspect of the study was the investigation into the concept of a “weed hangover” — a state similar to an alcohol hangover where after-effects of intoxication might affect an individual’s function the next day. The researchers found no evidence of such effects. Chronic users did not report any significant next-day emotional, motivational, or conscientiousness impairments that could be directly linked to previous day’s cannabis use. This finding suggests that the residual effects of cannabis are minimal, at least among habitual users.
These findings collectively suggest that while cannabis does influence certain psychological traits and states temporarily, the overall effects on users’ motivation and ability to function might be less detrimental than previously assumed.
“Cannabis is currently having a moment, and we expect it to only become more popular as laws and attitudes shift. We hope the research community will rise to the challenge of these societal shifts by attendant shifts in research philosophy that has been too quick to pathologize use,” the researchers concluded.
But the study, like all research, has limitations. The sample consisted of self-selected frequent users who may not represent the general population of cannabis users. The experience sampling method, while reducing recall bias, relies heavily on self-reporting, which can introduce its own set of biases. Future research could benefit from a more diverse participant pool and perhaps a comparative analysis between users and non-users to provide a clearer picture of cannabis’s impacts.
The study, “Chronic Cannabis Use in Everyday Life: Emotional, Motivational, and Self-Regulatory Effects of Frequently Getting High,” was authored by Michael Inzlicht, Taylor Bridget Sparrow-Mungal, and Gregory John Depow.
