The Effect Of Trait Anxiety Level On Future Task Time Estimation

People plan for the future and estimate how long it will take them to complete a task in the future so they can better manage their daily schedule.However,we tend to underestimate or overestimate how long future tasks will take.Estimates of future task times are also susceptible to emotions.Anxiety refers to the phenomenon of anxiety and restlessness about things that have not yet happened in the future,which leads to the underestimation or overestimation of the completion time of future tasks.The time distance and difficulty of future tasks are also important factors affecting the estimation of future task time.This study focuses on the effects of different trait anxiety levels on future task time estimation,and the effects of time distance and task difficulty on trait anxiety levels on future task time estimation.In study 1,inter-subject design 2(trait anxiety level: high trait anxiety,low trait anxiety)× 2(time distance :5 minutes,2 months)was used to investigate the effect of trait anxiety level on future task time estimation under different time distances.To compare the differences in the estimation of future task time between subjects with high and low trait anxiety at different time distances.Study 2 further explored whether task difficulty and time distance affected the estimation of future task time by subjects with high and low trait anxiety.A mixed experimental design of2 tasks(task difficulty: high difficulty,low difficulty)× 2(trait anxiety level: high trait anxiety,low trait anxiety)×2(time distance :5 minutes,2months)was adopted.The dependent variable mainly analyzes the estimated time to complete the future task,the actual time to complete the task and the relative error of the estimated time.To explore whether task difficulty affects the estimation of future task time of high and low trait anxious subjects at different time distances.The experimental results indicate that:(1)there is a significant difference between high trait anxiety and low trait anxiety in predicting future task time.Compared with low trait anxiety,high trait anxiety significantly overestimates the completion time of future tasks.(2)Trait anxiety affects the time estimation of future tasks under different time distances.High trait anxiety individuals have significantly lower estimates of future task time at close range than at long range.For individuals with low trait anxiety,there is no significant difference in the estimation of future task time between close distance and long distance.(3)In terms of estimating the time of high and low difficulty future tasks,high trait anxiety subjects had a significantly shorter distance(5 minutes)in estimating future task time compared to a longer distance(2 months)in estimating future task time;For the low trait anxiety group,there was no significant difference between the estimated time to complete close future tasks(5 minutes)and the estimated time to complete distant tasks(2months)for both high and low difficulty tasks.(4)For individuals with high trait anxiety,whether it is a low difficulty task or a high difficulty task,the relative error of time estimation at close range(5 minutes)is significantly lower than that at long range(2 months).However,there was no significant difference in the relative error values between close distance(5 minutes)and long distance(2 months)among subjects with low trait anxiety.