“The psychology of impatience could make waiting more tolerable”

Matt Huston

In the election and COVID-19 vaccine studies, the participants rated how impatient they were feeling at multiple points during the wait. On average, people’s impatience intensified the closer they got to what they thought would be the end of the wait. But it’s not just that impatience grows with increased waiting time. There seems to be something particularly frustrating about being near the end of a wait. In the bus study, it was those people who expected the bus to arrive any moment who felt the most impatient, even if they hadn’t necessarily been waiting that long. This could explain why the researchers found during the COVID-19 vaccine study that impatience for the pandemic to end held steady over time – the end was not yet in sight.

According to the researchers, a key factor that contributes to swelling impatience, especially near the end of a wait, is our desire for closure – basically, ‘the desire to get this thing off your mind or cross it off your to-do list,’ as Roberts puts it. Consider this: if you’re working on a project, or running a race, and the finish is in sight, the eagerness to get it done with might spur you to pick up your pace. Indeed, the ‘goal-gradient effect’ shows that ‘people become much more motivated to achieve their goals as they get closer to the end,’ Roberts says.

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