The Ovsiankina effect is the tendency for people to feel driven to return to and finish a task they have started but not completed, even when there is no external reward or requirement for doing so. It is named for the psychologist Maria Ovsiankina, who studied how an interrupted activity creates a lasting psychological tension that motivates a person to resume it. The effect is closely related to the Zeigarnik effect, which describes how unfinished tasks are remembered better than completed ones because of this same underlying tension.
Facts
Core ClaimPeople feel driven to return to and finish a task they have started but not completed, even without any external reward. 1 First Described Year Classification
Type of Phenomenon Sources
1. Ovsiankina effect, Wikipedia
Overview section
the Ovsiankina effect describes the innate human urge to finish tasks previously initiated.
References
Ovsiankina, Maria (1928). Die Wiederaufnahme unterbrochener Handlungen (PDF) (in German).
lead section, phenomenon-kind classification
This tendency to resume an interrupted action is especially prevalent when the action hasn't yet been achieved.
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