The longest year ever: Emotions and time perception interact to predict how frequently individuals engage in COVID-19 avoidance behaviors.

Abstract

Affective states alter the perception of how quickly time is passing. However, previous studies have not examined the independent and interactive effects of emotion and time perception on behavioral outcomes. The current study sought to better understand the relationships between affect, time perception, and reported engagement in COVID-19 pathogen avoidance behaviors (e.g., social distancing, wearing a mask) over 1 year. The study sample was comprised of American adults (n = 1,000) recruited using Prolific. The majority of participants in the final sample (50.1% male, 46.8% female, 3.1% nonbinary/other) identified as White/Caucasian (78.9%) or Black/African American (11.9%). The average age in the sample was 34.4 years (SD = 11.3). Consistent with study hypotheses, approach-motivated affective states (happiness) were associated with time flying, and avoidance-motivated affective states (nervous, lack of control) were associated with time dragging. Moderation analyses revealed that reports of greater avoidance-motivated affect and time dragging, and reports of greater approach-motivated affect and time flying interacted to predict more frequent engagement in pathogen avoidance behaviors. These results contribute to the existing literature describing the affective and behavioral effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by suggesting both approach- and avoidance-motivated affective states have important implications for engagement in pathogen avoidance behaviors.

A study of the relationship between social anxiety and mask-wearing intention among college students in the post-COVID-19 era: mediating effects of self-identity, impression management, and avoidance

“…Thus, when people are fearful of COVID-19, they may show avoidance behaviors such as reducing use of public transportation, wearing masks or reducing mobility (Ito et al, 2022) in order to inhibit the spread of infectious diseases. In addition, recent research has shown that avoidance-based affective states are associated with stricter adherence to health behaviors (Wendel and Gable, 2023). On the basis of their fear of COVID-19, people are more inclined to wear masks to avoid infection.…”

Efeitos das propriedades de valor hedônico e estimação de tempo e memória temporal

“…Os estados emocionais estão intimamente ligados à percepção do tempo, ou à experiência subjetiva de quão rápido o tempo está passando (Droit-Volet & Gil, 2009;Wendel & Gable, 2023).…”