Affective dynamics when approaching a deadline

Abstract

Goal pursuits have long been associated with how good or bad people feel. The exact affective influence of approaching the end of a deadline-bound task, however, remains unclear. People's effort level usually increases as they approach a deadline, yet while some theories predict this pattern will correspond to an increase in positive affective state, others may suggest that affective state will follow an opposite trend. Here, participants (n = 22; 14 women) performed a deadline-bound spaceship game paradigm designed to measure U-shape patterns in effort allocation by the frequency of keypresses. Participants vocally rated how they feel on a scale ranging from -5 ("very bad") to +5 (very good) every 30 seconds through the game. We found that both effort level and affective ratings followed a U-shape pattern through the task. This result supports an opportunity cost model of goal gradients which suggests that people postpone competing activities in favor of performing a focal task when approaching a deadline.