How wrong are you about how long something will hurt?
Timothy Wilson & Daniel Gilbert · Affective Forecasting · 2003
A · Replicated at scale
People systematically overestimate the intensity and duration of future emotional reactions. A central cause is immune neglect: we underestimate the mind's capacity to rationalise, reframe and recover. The error is robust across events, including ones people have experienced before.
ProbeRecall a past event you expected to devastate you. Write how long you expected it to last and how long it did.
Next
Is it better to change the situation or to suppress the reaction?