心理探祕 期望值反向決定心理時間

Most people returning from holiday feel that the journey home passes by much quicker than the outward leg. Even though both distances and journey are usually the same, the way back still seems shorter. Scientists believe this 'return trip effect' is not caused by being more familiar with the route on a return journey, as previously thought, but because of different expectations.

很奇怪，大多數的人在旅遊後都感覺回家路程上所消耗的時間會很快，即使路程的長度是一樣的。先前的實驗認爲，歸途的所需的時間較短是因爲人們更熟悉路徑的原因，然而，近日科學家推翻了之前的結論，他們認爲歸途所需時間較短是因爲“期望值的不同”。

Lead researcher Niels van de Ven, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, said: 'People often underestimate how long the outward journey takes and this is therefore experienced as long. 'Based on that feeling, the traveller expects the return journey to be long as well, and this then turns out to be shorter than expected.'

荷蘭Tilburg大學首席研究員Niels van de Ven說：“一般來說，人們在展開旅程之前，一般對低估前往目的地的路程，但在經歷了一番顛簸之後在等到歸途時，他們又會高估了歸途的路程，結果卻發現歸途的時間較短，所以一切的一切都可以歸結爲期望值的高低問題。”

An over-optimistic prior estimation of the journey time leads to the illusion of the return journey being shorter, the researchers said. This conclusion was based on three short studies where 350 people either took a trip by bus, by bicycle or watched a video of a person taking a bicycle ride. When the duration estimates were compared, respondents thought that the return journey on average went by 22 per cent faster than the outward journey.

據悉，對自己啓程所耗時間的過分樂觀是導致造成歸途變短錯覺的主要因素。針對這個猜測，專家在350名志願者中做了調查，調查分3組人員：A組乘坐公交車、B組騎自行車、C組則觀看一段騎單車的視頻。在進行比較歸途時間長短時，大家都覺得歸途時間比啓程時間平均要快22%。

The return trip effect was largest for participants who reported that the initial trip felt disappointingly long. However in their study, the researchers demonstrated that this explanation is unlikely. Co-author Michael Roy, from Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania, said: 'The return trip effect also existed when respondents took a different, but equidistant, return route. 'You do not need to recognise a route to experience the effect.' The researchers now hope to be able to explain more than just this return trip effect.

因大多數的志願者都會啓程所消耗的時間高估、都覺得去的路程太漫長，進而也降低了對於自己歸途的期望值。來自賓夕法尼亞Elizabethtown的專家Michael Roy說：“所謂的歸心似箭、回家的路程會相對更快這種效應出現在相同的路程中，你根本不需要去依靠路程的長短來判斷所需時間，因爲人們對於歸途的期望值會過低，正所謂，抱有最壞的準備，會有更好的希望。”

Professor van de Ven said: 'These findings on the return trip effect can help us make new predictions on how people experience the duration of tasks, even those unrelated to travelling.'

教授van de Ven 說：“我們所發現的‘歸途效應’幫助我們更好的瞭解在處理任何事情中期望值對結果產生的心理影響，這種影響並不侷限在旅途過程中。”