The region-beta paradox is the phenomenon that people can sometimes recover more quickly from more distressing experiences than from less distressing ones. The hypothesized reason is that intense states trigger psychological defense processes that reduce the distress, while less intense states do not trigger the same psychological defense processes and, therefore, less effective attenuation of the stress occurs. However, people typically predict intense states to last longer. The paradox has been observed in the psychological effects of exposure to terrorist attacks. This is likely related to activation of

coping Coping refers to conscious strategies used to reduce unpleasant emotions. Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviours and can be individual or social. Theories of coping Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to ...

cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person's actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environmen ...

and other forms of mental mobilization. It has been computationally modelled in an

affective computing Affective computing is the study and development of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, process, and simulate human affects. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning computer science, psychology, and cognitive science. While some ...

model.

Examples

If someone is currently in a mediocre romantic relationship, they will be less likely to end it to find an excellent relationship than if their current relationship was worse, thus making their current overall situation worse. The same would be true if they were in a mediocre job.

Origin of name

The name originates from the illustration in the paper by Daniel Gilbert et al. that introduced the paradox. They consider a commuter who has the habit of walking to destinations within a mile of their origin, and biking to more distant destinations. Since the bike is faster the commuter will reach some distant locations more quickly than nearer destinations (region beta in their diagram), reversing the normal tendency to arrive later at more distant locations. This non-monotonicity applies to states where interventions can be chosen, but are not chosen below certain thresholds (because of cost etc.). For example, injured people may be more likely to seek out effective means to speed their recovery (taking medicine, going to a doctor, undergoing surgery) when the injury is more severe than for mild injuries, making the lesser injuries last longer.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , editor-first1=Bruce , editor-last1=Bongar, editor-first2=Lisa M. , editor-last2=Brown, editor-first3= Larry E. , editor-last3=Beutler, editor-first4=James N. , editor-last4=Breckenridge, editor-first5= Philip G. , editor-last5=Zimbardo , first1=Susan E. , last1=Brandon , first2=Andrew P., last2=Silke , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KI0RDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 , title=Psychology of Terrorism, date=2007, publisher=Oxford University Press, location=Oxford, isbn=9780195172492, doi=10.1093/med:psych/9780195172492.003.0013, chapter=Near- and Long-Term Psychological Effects of Exposure to Terrorist Attacks {{cite journal, last1=Gilbert, first1=Daniel T., last2=Lieberman, first2=Matthew D., last3=Morewedge, first3=Carey K., last4=Wilson, first4=Timothy D., title=The Peculiar Longevity of Things Not So Bad, journal=Psychological Science, date=2004, volume=15, issue=1, pages=14–19, doi=10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01501003.x, url=http://www.scn.ucla.edu/pdf/PeculiarLongevity.pdf, pmid=14717826, s2cid=14405957, url-status=bot: unknown, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110109/http://www.scn.ucla.edu/pdf/PeculiarLongevity.pdf, archivedate=2016-03-04 {{cite journal, last1=Steephen, first1=John E., title=HED: A Computational Model of Affective Adaptation and Emotion Dynamics, journal=IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, date=2013, volume=4, issue=2, pages=197–210, doi=10.1109/T-AFFC.2013.2, s2cid=11797670 {{cite journal, last1=Taylor, first1=Shelley E., title=Asymmetrical effects of positive and negative events: The mobilization-minimization hypothesis., journal=Psychological Bulletin, date=1991, volume=110, issue=1, pages=67–85, doi=10.1037/0033-2909.110.1.67, pmid=1891519, url=https://taylorlab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/10/1991_Asymmetrical-Effects_Positive_Negative-Events_Mobilization-Minimization-Hypothesis.pdf, url-status=bot: unknown, archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014220210/https://taylorlab.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/10/1991_Asymmetrical-Effects_Positive_Negative-Events_Mobilization-Minimization-Hypothesis.pdf, archivedate=2015-10-14 {{cite book, chapter=Making Sense: The Causes of Emotional Evanescence , first1= Timothy D., last1= Wilson , first2=Daniel T. , last2=Gilbert, first3=David B. , last3=Centerbar , editor1-last=Brocas, editor1-first=Isabelle, editor2-last=Carrillo, editor2-first=Juan D., title=The Psychology of Economic Decisions, date=2003, publisher=Oxford University Press, isbn=9780199251087, chapter-url=http://www.danielgilbert.com/Wilson%20(Evanescence).pdf, language=en , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOI31h_G6UkC&pg=PA209, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160523220441/http://www.danielgilbert.com/Wilson%20(Evanescence).pdf, archive-date= 2016-05-23 {{cite journal, last1=Zimbardo, first1=P. G., last2=Cohen, first2=A. R., last3=Weisenberg, first3=M., last4=Dworkin, first4=L., last5=Firestone, first5=I., title=Control of Pain Motivation by Cognitive Dissonance, journal=Science, date=1966, volume=151, issue=3707, pages=217–219, doi=10.1126/science.151.3707.217, pmid=5907915, bibcode=1966Sci...151..217Z, s2cid=40345480 Emotion Cognitive biases Paradoxes

Examples

Origin of name

See also

References