Remembered unpleasantness depends on peak and ending intensity, not on how long it lasted.
Kahneman and colleagues' 1993 cold-water experiment: subjects preferred to repeat a longer trial that ended with the water slightly warmed over a shorter, uniformly colder one. More total discomfort, less remembered discomfort.
In practice
- A conference that runs long but ends with a good closing session is remembered better than a shorter one that ends in a queue for taxis.
- A holiday with one superb day and a difficult final morning is recalled worse than a flat week that ended well.
- Further reading
- Wikipedia
- Subject
- Psychology & Behavior
- Essay
- A century and a half of measuring the mind