So Much to Do and So Little Time

Abstract

In a series of five experiments, we showed that the perception of temporal distance to a future event is shaped by the effort one must invest to realize the event. Studies 1a and 1b showed that when actors are faced with realizing an event by a certain deadline, more effortful events are perceived as closer in time, regardless of the objective temporal distance to the deadline. This negative relationship was reversed, however, when deadlines were absent (Study 2). Finally, priming high effort reduced perceived temporal distance to an event, whereas priming low effort increased perceived temporal distance to the event (Studies 3 and 4). The implications of these findings for models of temporal distance are discussed.

Work More, Then Feel More: The Influence of Effort on Affective Predictions

“…If the same task is perceived as effortful by Person A and effortless by Person B, only Person A will expect higher happiness in case of success because this would motivate her to get involved in that task. Recent literature (e.g., [26], [27]) outlines precisely how subjective judgments of temporal distance or emotions take precedence in determining one's motivation for future tasks or one's judgments of present tasks.…”

“…For example, effort may accentuate people's propensity to focus on the task or the event requiring the effort at the expense of other tasks, when predicting their affective reactions [6]. The effort invested in a future event also influences the perception of temporal distance to that event, so that effortful events are perceived as happening closer in time that effortless ones [26]. Moreover, temporally close events seem to induce more intense emotions than temporally distant events [27].…”

Adaptive Psychological Distance: A Survival Perceived Temporal Distance Effect

“…The survival scenario is based on the survival scenario developed by Nairne et al (2007) . The high-effort and low-effort events were based on scenarios developed by Jiga-Boy et al (2010) . The high-effort scenario was designed to match the survival scenario as closely as possible except for the survival context.…”

“…There is some evidence that this is true. Jiga-Boy et al (2010) found that more effortful scenarios feel closer to us in time than less effortful scenarios. When events are perceived as being close to us in time, there is evidence that we are more motivated to engage in activities that allow us to effectively prepare for those events ( Peetz et al, 2009 ).…”

“…To do this effectively, we compare participant judgments of perceived temporal distance to a future survival scenario with those of two future non-survival scenarios (a low-effort scenario and a high-effort scenario). A low-effort scenario and high-effort scenario are used for comparison with a survival scenario because in a study utilizing 28 different scenarios, Jiga-Boy et al (2010) showed that effort was an important factor for predicting perceived temporal distance to future events. Specifically, high-effort events were perceived as closer in time, followed by medium-effort events and then low-effort events.…”