Emotional states, subjective sense of time, and engagement in COVID-19 avoidance behaviors

What is it about?

Emotional states influence our sense of time, and the interaction of emotional states and time perception can predict behavioral outcomes. We examined these relationships in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to determine whether emotional states (both positive and negative) and time perception interacted to predict engagement in behaviors suggested to slow the spread of the pandemic (e.g., social distancing, wearing a mask).

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Photo by Maxime on Unsplash

Photo by Maxime on Unsplash

Why is it important?

The results of this study revealed that the combination of negative emotional states (e.g., nervousness) and feeling that time was dragging was related to greater engagement in behaviors suggested to slow the spread of the pandemic. Interestingly, we also found that the combination of positive emotional states (e.g., happiness) and feeling that time was flying was related to greater engagement in behaviors suggested to slow the spread of the pandemic. Together, these findings suggest that both positive and negative emotional states have important implications for public health initiatives aimed at increasing engagement in specific behaviors.