Fri May 27, 2005 12:43 pm   Reply with quote      

As time runs out, feelings intensify
26-05-2005
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People tend to feel more strongly about an experience -- whether positive or negative -- when they know it is ending, suggesting that deadlines intensify our emotions, according to new study findings released Thursday.

In one of a series of experiments, for instance, people reported stronger emotional reactions to having dinner at a colleague's home when they knew that the person was retiring next week.

"The general result was that the emotions got more intense, for the positive as well as the negative," if people knew they had a deadline, study author Dr. Ursina Teuscher of the University of California, San Diego told Reuters Health.

Teuscher noted that people tend to place a lot of importance on endings, which may cause them to invest more in experiences they know are ending. As a result, the outcome of those experiences becomes particularly important, which makes the sad or happy feelings they have from the ending extra intense, she noted.

These findings "definitely" suggest that people's emotions may become heightened as they age, Teuscher noted. Furthermore, the results may explain why some people notice changes in older relatives, she added. Knowing that deadlines can intensify emotions "might help these interactions," Teuscher said.

She and her colleagues plan to present their findings Saturday during the American Psychological Society annual convention in Los Angeles.

For the study, Teuscher and her team asked 165 young people, average age 21, to read a series of scenarios, half of which included deadlines. Afterwards, people had to rate how intensely they would experience a set of 31 different emotions if they were in the scenario.

While having dinner at a colleague's home, for instance, the meal is burned, the dessert the reader brings is unpalatable, yet in the scenario, the evening is cheerful, and both people chat well into the night.

When people were also told they were retiring the next week and moving to another city, they said they would feel more closeness, more patience, more respect and more sadness, and less irritation during the ill-fated dinner.
Copyright © 2005 Reuters Limited.
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I wonder exactly what benefit this will have for mental/emotional health? And why did they not explore 'beginnings' as well as endings? Any suggestions?

Fri May 27, 2005 12:50 pm   Reply with quote      

It is important to appreciate every moment that you spend with another person including the very beginning of encounter, yet this is something I am still learning and I am still not exactly practicing.

Sat May 28, 2005 8:23 am   Reply with quote      

From personal experience I also feel stronger emotions and therefor better recollection of beginnings and endings than the moments between them. Beginnings and endings are very small part of life, so that is kind of sad.

Sat May 28, 2005 11:30 pm   Reply with quote      

This sounds relevant....

To realise the value of 25 years:
ask anyone who has attended a class reunion.

To realise the value of ten years:
Ask a newly divorced couple.

To realise the value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realise the value of one year:
Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realise the value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a still born.

To realise the value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realise the value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realise the value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realise the value of one minute:
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realise the value of one second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realise the value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

To realise the value of a friend:
Lose one.

Sun May 29, 2005 12:43 am   Reply with quote      

Another thoughtful and philosophical post from Thais, the thinker ...

Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:03 pm   Reply with quote      

I like that. I would like to borrow it and post it on my site.

Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:09 pm   Reply with quote      

I'm sure Thais wouldn't mind that.

Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:25 pm   Reply with quote      

Ok, did Thais write that? If so, Excellent Job!

Thu Jan 19, 2006 5:33 pm   Reply with quote      

I would imagine beginnings should be a whole lot more.

Humans do get used to things... and many do seem to avoid change at all costs!

Fri Jan 20, 2006 4:18 am   Reply with quote      

It's interesting that some people keep bad habits and give up good habits if they have any.

Sat Jan 21, 2006 4:50 am   Reply with quote      

I'm not sure I'm with you here. Can you give me an example?

Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:15 am   Reply with quote      

The following is not exactly related to the original post, but it's ok.

You may have heard my talking about this many times, but here's one example. Debt. I know a couple of people who have some debt, and as I get to know them more and more, I find that they have a certain behavioral pattern. It's not exactly that they had a bad fortune and ran into debt, but it is that their behavioral pattern took them to go into debt. Subsequently, it is a repeated pattern of their life.

Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:38 am   Reply with quote      

This is actually an interesting point. Do you think this might be something of a kind of self-defeating behaviour rooted in some unresolved psychological issue? Or perhaps just over-zealous banks offering credit with
"encouraging" advertisements?