Though the seconds
may tick by on the clock at a regular pace, our experience of the 'fourth
dimension' is anything but uniform. When we're waiting in line or sitting in a
boring meeting, time seems to slow down to a trickle. And when we get caught up
in something completely engrossing -- a gripping thriller, for example -- we
may lose sense of time altogether.
But what about the idea that time flies when we're having
fun? New research from psychological science suggests that the familiar adage
may really be true, with a caveat: time flies when we're have goal-motivated
fun.
Existing research demonstrates that experiencing positive
feelings or states makes us feel like time is passing faster than negative
feelings and states do. But, as some researchers observe, not all positive
states are created equal. Sometimes we experience feelings of contentment or
serenity. These feelings are certainly positive ones, but they aren't very high
in what researchers call 'approach motivation' -- they don't make us want to go
out and pursue or achieve something. Feelings of desire or excitement, on the
other hand, are very high in approach motivation -- desire and excitement
motivate us to go forth and conquer.
Psychological scientists Philip Gable and Bryan Pool of
the University of Alabama hypothesized that it's specifically those states that
are high in approach motivation that make us feel like time is passing quickly.
They decided to test this hypothesis in a series of three experiments and their
results are published in the August 2012 issue of Psychological Science, a
journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
In one of the experiments, participants were trained to
tell the difference between pictures shown for a 'short' (400 ms) or a 'long'
(1600 ms) period of time. The participants then viewed pictures that were
neutral (geometric shapes), that were positive but low in approach motivation
(e.g., flowers), or that were positive and high in approach motivation
(delicious desserts). For each picture, they had to indicate whether the
picture had been displayed for a short or long period of time.
Just as the researchers hypothesized, the participants
perceived the enticing pictures of desserts as having been displayed for a
shorter amount of time than either the neutral geometric shapes or the pleasing
pictures of flowers.
The researchers also found that the perceived amount of
time for the enticing pictures was related to when participants had eaten that
day. Those participants who had eaten recently (lowering their approach
motivation for food) judged the dessert pictures as having been displayed for
longer periods of time than their hungrier peers.
These findings were confirmed in a second study, in which
participants reported time as passing faster when they looked at the dessert
pictures with the expectation that they would be able to eat those desserts
later, suggesting that our desire to approach something really does make time
fly by.
Importantly, this feeling that time is somehow shorter
seems to be the specific result of our desire to approach or pursue something,
not a more general effect of heightened attention or physiological arousal. In
a third study, the researchers found that looking at pictures that evoked
highly unpleasant feelings, which can also make us more alert and attentive,
did not shorten people's perception of time.
Gable and Pool propose that states high in approach
motivation make us feel like time is passing quickly because they narrow our
memory and attention processes, helping us to shut out irrelevant thoughts and
feelings. This perceived shortening of time may help us to persist for longer
periods of time in pursuing important adaptive goals, including food, water,
and companionship.
"Although we tend to believe that time flies when we're
having a good time, these studies indicate what it is about the enjoyable time
that causes it to go by more quickly," says Gable. "It seems to be
the goal pursuit or achievement-directed action we're engaged in that matters.
Just being content or satisfied may not make time fly, but being excited or
actively pursuing a desired object can."
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