Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, California, United States.
Stress Health. 2019 Oct;35(4):549-559. doi: 10.1002/smi.2888. Epub 2019 Aug 26.
The passage of time is a subjective experience and can be easily distorted by concurrent emotions. Specifically, time seems to move particularly slowly when people are in a negative emotional state. The aim of the current studies was to evaluate the bidirectional relationship between subjective time perception and distress during stressful waiting periods, during which the slow passage of time may be particularly distressing. Across studies of undergraduate students awaiting a midterm exam grade (Study 1) and law graduates awaiting bar exam results (Studies 2 and 3), results revealed consistent links between distress and time perception across the waiting periods, with tentative evidence for bidirectional relationships between these experiences. That is, people who perceived time as moving slowly while they waited tended to report greater distress across the waiting period (particularly worry, anxiety, negative emotion, and poor coping), and people who reported greater distress tended to perceive time as moving more slowly. The links between distress and time perception suggest the possibility of downward spirals during stressful waiting periods, such that distress makes time seem to slow down, which then exacerbates distress. We discuss avenues for future research and potential remedies to derail the spiral of distress and time perception.
时间的流逝是一种主观体验，很容易受到当前情绪的影响。具体来说，当人们处于消极情绪状态时，时间似乎过得特别慢。本研究的目的是评估在压力等待期间，主观时间感知与困扰之间的双向关系，在这段时间里，时间的缓慢流逝可能特别令人痛苦。通过对等待期中考试成绩的本科生（研究 1）和等待律师考试成绩的法律毕业生（研究 2 和 3）的研究，结果表明，在等待期间，困扰和时间感知之间存在一致的联系，这些经验之间存在双向关系的初步证据。也就是说，在等待过程中，那些觉得时间过得慢的人往往在整个等待期间报告的困扰更大（特别是担心、焦虑、负面情绪和应对能力差），而那些报告困扰更大的人往往觉得时间过得更慢。困扰和时间感知之间的联系表明，在压力大的等待期间可能会出现螺旋式下降，即困扰会使时间看起来变慢，从而加剧困扰。我们讨论了未来研究的途径和可能的补救措施，以阻止困扰和时间感知的螺旋式下降。
