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Research

Duration Neglect in Retrospective Evaluations of Affective Episodes; When More Pain Is Preferred to Less

Fredrickson & Kahneman (1993); Kahneman, Fredrickson, Schreiber & Redelmeier (1993) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1); Psychological Science, 4(6)

Relied on in 11 places across the academy · 10 stated limits

This entry covers two papers, listed above in order. The link below opens the first.

No stable link recorded for this one — look it up by the citation above. If you have a permanent one, send it and we will add it.

What it found

Retrospective judgements of an experience are dominated by its most intense moment and by how it ended; overall duration barely registers.

In retrospective evaluation, the peak and the end dominate; how long something lasted is largely neglected.

Retrospective evaluations of an experience are dominated by its peak and its ending; total duration is largely neglected.

In retrospective evaluations of experiences, the peak and the ending dominated the remembered quality while the duration was largely neglected.

2 more phrasings of the same finding

The end of an episode carried disproportionate weight in how the whole of it was evaluated afterwards.

Retrospective judgements of an experience were dominated by its most intense moment and by how it ended, with the total duration barely registering.

What it does not show

Laboratory episodes of pain and pleasure lasting minutes. The extension to conversations, evenings and relationships is ours.

And where we carry it further

Established with pain and pleasure episodes in the lab. Applying it to the shape of a conversation is our extension.

Demonstrated with controlled pain and pleasure episodes, not conversations.

Established with pain and pleasure episodes in the laboratory. Applying it to the shape of an evening is our extension.

Established on pain and pleasure episodes in the laboratory, not on conversations. A direction, not a rule about messaging.

Established on pain and pleasure episodes in the laboratory rather than on conversations. The direction is what is being borrowed.

Laboratory episodes, not messaging.

Established with minutes-long episodes of pain and pleasure in the lab. Applying it to the length of a date is our extension.

Established with controlled pain and pleasure episodes in the laboratory. Applying it to the shape of a conversation is our extension.

Established on pain and pleasure episodes in the laboratory, not on conversations. The direction is what is being borrowed.

Laboratory episodes rather than conversations.

Where we rely on it

11 places in the academy. If this paper turned out to be wrong, this is the list that would have to change. Some of the instructions below are part of Gold; none of the findings are.

Cited alongside it

Papers that sit under the same topics and films. Not a claim that they agree with each other — only that the same exercises lean on both.

Research

A real study. We tell you what it found, how many people were in it, and what it can't prove.

Free to read, link to and quote. If we have carried this paper further than it goes, say so at contact@suaviq.com — corrections to this registry are the most useful mail we get.