Have you ever wondered why your sister’s dirty laundry being left on the bathroom floor can absolutely infuriate you, while your boyfriend cheating on you can somehow be rationalized in your head? No? Just me? Well, Daniel Gilbert from Harvard decided to conduct three studies on this phenomenon. Why do people bounce back more easily from tougher problems?
People mistakenly expect intense unpleasant psychological states to last longer than mild ones. This is an easy assumption to make, considering it would theoretically make sense to be more upset about a divorce over a slow elevator.
In the first study, participants mistakenly predicted that the more they initially disliked a transgressor, the longer their dislike would last. In the second study, participants predicted that their dislike for a transgressor who hurt them a lot would last longer than their dislike for a transgressor who hurt them a little, but precisely the opposite resulted. In the third study, participants predicted that their dislike for a transgressor who hurt them a lot would last longer than their dislike for a transgressor who hurt someone else a lot, but, again, precisely the opposite was the case (Barker para. 1).
These mistaken predictions can be attributed to a phenomenon known as the region-beta paradox. It is defined as “the phenomenon that people can sometimes recover more quickly from more intense emotions or pain than from less distressing experiences” (Region-beta Paradox para. 1).
We rationalize big problems, not little ones. An example given describes a wife rationalizing her husband cheating on her as men needing to try it once and get it out of their systems, while his annoying habits, such as leaving dirty dishes in the sink, are not rationalized at all (Barker para. 2). Most people would never dismiss a family member leaving dirty dishes in the sink as “needing to get it out of their systems” or some other justification. We don’t rationalize such things, so we become more angry because in our minds there’e no excuse.
Works Cited
Barker, Eric. “11 Scientific Studies That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity.” The Week. N.p., 25 Aug. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2014. <http://theweek.com/article/index/266837/11-scientific-studies-that-will-restore-your-faith-in-humanity>.
Barker, Eric. “Do We Bounce Back Quickest When Life Hurts Us the Most?”Barking Up The Wrong Tree. N.p., 11 Jan. 2012. Web. 03 Dec. 2014. <http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/01/do-we-bounce-back-quickest-when-life-hurts-us/>.
“Region-beta Paradox.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Nov. 2014. Web. 03 Dec. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Region-beta_paradox>.
I found your blog post extremely interesting! My friend and her boyfriend fight frequently and he has cheated on her but she always finds reason to rationalize why she should stay with them. However, she is also the type of person that gets angry over the littlest things. I find it very intriguing that people recover quicker from more stressful situations because as found in the study you would assume the opposite. I was just wondering if you found anything that compared the situation by gender? It seems that men get less angry over the little things, but stay angry longer over the big things. Just an idea! Let me know if you find anything.