Why Impatience is a More Complex Emotion than it Seems

Surprises in the Study

Impatience is a feeling we’re all familiar with. Long considered a passing mood, it now reveals its depth in US research published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. A research team at the University of California, Riverside studied this complex emotion, which arises from the frustration of a delay that seems unfair, unreasonable, or inappropriate.

Theories of Patience

Philosophers and religious scholars call patience a virtue, yet most people claim to be impatient. That made me wonder if maybe patience is less about being a good person and more about how we deal with day-to-day frustrations, explained study co-author Kate Sweeny.

Factors that Intensify Impatience

To explore this hypothesis, Sweeny and colleagues exposed 1,200 participants to frustrating situations, such as being stuck in a traffic jam, waiting in a room without distraction, or enduring an interminable meeting. Volunteers were asked to rate their level of impatience and describe their strategies for coping with it – deep breathing, positive thoughts, or looking for upsides of the situation. The researchers identified three key factors that intensify impatience: the importance of what’s at stake, which amplifies the feeling when the outcome is crucial; the unpleasantness of the situation, which makes waiting difficult to bear; and when someone is clearly to blame, which makes the experience feel even worse.

Surprising Findings

Surprisingly, it’s not the length of the wait that counts most, but the gap between the impatient person’s expectations and what they actually feel or experience.

Coping with Impatience

However, some people seem better equipped to cope with waiting. Emotionally stable individuals who are open to uncertainty and able to manage their emotions – for example by distracting themselves or recontextualising the situation – seem naturally more patient than others. Qualities such as empathy and a generally agreeable temperament also contribute to more composed reactions.

Perspectives for Better Understanding

Clearly, psychological and contextual factors play a key role in our ability to be patient. This paper opens up inspiring perspectives for better understanding and coping with impatience. “We still have a lot to learn, but our approach is quite promising in terms of helping people to manage feelings of impatience and ultimately become more patient in their daily lives,” Sweeny highlighted.

Conclusion

At a time when the pace of life is accelerating, learning to foster patience could well be one of the simplest antidotes to the major challenges we face. And what better time than during the year-end holidays, when excitement is mounting, to try mastering the art?

#### FAQs

* What is impatience?
Impatience is a complex emotion that arises from the frustration of a delay that seems unfair, unreasonable, or inappropriate.
* What are the key factors that intensify impatience?
The importance of what’s at stake, the unpleasantness of the situation, and when someone is clearly to blame.
* How can we cope with impatience?
Emotionally stable individuals who are open to uncertainty and able to manage their emotions, qualities such as empathy and a generally agreeable temperament, and strategies such as deep breathing, positive thoughts, or looking for upsides of the situation.