Duration Neglect
Peak-End Rule
The psychological observation that people's judgments of the unpleasantness of painful experiences depend very little on the duration of those experiences. Such judgments tend to be affected by two factors: the peak (when the experience was the most painful), and how quickly the pain diminishes.
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Origin
Identified by Barbara Fredrickson and Daniel Kahneman in a 1993 study where participants immersed their hands in cold water. People judged a 90-second trial (60s painful + 30s slightly less painful) as better than a 60-second trial of the same pain — the slightly improved ending mattered more than the extra suffering. This duration neglect is a core feature of the “peak-end rule.”
Updated February 22, 2026