How Feeling Rushed Distorts Our Big Picture Thinking

David Palenski
3rd February, 2024

How Feeling Rushed Distorts Our Big Picture Thinking
Image Source: © Natural Science News. This image is an artistic rendition.
Time poverty is a growing issue, with many people feeling constantly rushed and overwhelmed by their commitments. This feeling of having too much to do and not enough time can impact how we think and make decisions. Researchers at Beijing Normal University[1] recently investigated how time poverty affects our ‘construal level’ – essentially, how abstract or concrete our thinking becomes – and whether our motivations play a role in this process. Our brains process information at different levels of abstraction. Abstract thinking focuses on the ‘big picture’ – the ‘why’ of an action, its overall purpose. Concrete thinking, on the other hand, focuses on the details – the ‘how’ of an action, the specific steps involved. Previous research[2] has shown that when considering future plans, people in an abstract mindset are more influenced by how desirable an action is, while those in a concrete mindset focus more on practicalities. The study involved six experiments with over 1300 participants. The researchers found a consistent link between time poverty and concrete thinking. Whether participants reported feeling time-pressured or were put in a situation designed to simulate time poverty, they tended to think in more concrete terms. This means they focused on the specifics of tasks rather than the overarching goals. For example, when faced with choices, they paid more attention to secondary features – minor details – rather than the primary, most important aspects. This shift towards concrete thinking isn’t simply a consequence of being busy. The researchers discovered that why someone feels time-poor matters. They identified two main types of motivation: autonomous motivation, where people are driven by things they want to do, and controlled motivation, where they feel they have to do things. The results showed that people experiencing time poverty due to obligations – things they ‘have to’ do – were more likely to adopt a concrete mindset. However, those feeling time-poor because of a multitude of desired activities – things they ‘want’ to do – showed a weaker tendency to think concretely. This suggests that the nature of our commitments influences how time pressure affects our thinking style. This finding builds on earlier work exploring the impact of goals on future thinking[3]. That research showed that goals we freely choose (self-concordant goals) feel more ‘real’ and are linked to positive emotions, while imposed goals feel less engaging. The current study extends this by showing that when time is scarce, the type of motivation behind our activities determines whether we lose the ability to engage in that more abstract, positive future-oriented thinking. Furthermore, the study connects to research highlighting the pervasive effects of chronic time pressure[4]. The researchers acknowledge that feeling constantly rushed isn’t just a personal issue, but a societal one, with implications for well-being and productivity. By understanding how time poverty shapes our thought processes, we can begin to address its negative consequences.

EnvironmentMental Health

References

Main Study

1) Can't see the forest for the trees: Time poverty influences construal level and the moderating role of autonomous versus controlled motivation.

Published 2nd February, 2024

https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12730

Related Studies

2) Using abstractness to confront challenges: How the abstract construal level increases people's willingness to perform desirable but demanding actions.

https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000244

3) Wanting or having to: The role of goal self-concordance in episodic future thinking.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2018.10.004

4) Development and Evaluation of the Chronic Time Pressure Inventory.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02717


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