The feeling that “we always choose the wrong money” is a common consumer frustration. As sociopsychologist Griet Van Vaerenbergh from the Thomas More University in Antwerp explains, research does not confirm that customers systematically choose the slowest queues.
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Mathematical analyses, including: those conducted in 2017 by Enrico Scalas from the University of Sussex prove that our chances of getting faster service are similar to those of getting slower. Random events, such as payment problems, the need to check the price or technical glitches, determine the final waiting time.
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Queue psychology: why do we feel frustrated?
However, the way our brain interprets these situations is crucial. The expert points to three psychological mechanisms that strengthen our irritation.
- The first is the so-called counterfactual thinking – the tendency to wonder what it might be like if we had chosen a different turn.
- The second is social comparison: when we observe that other customers move faster, we feel a sense of injustice.
- The third mechanism is the effect of negativity and availability – we remember situations that caused irritation more strongly than neutral or positive ones.
Experts emphasize that our belief that the “always wrong choice” is a cognitive illusion. As Van Vaerenbergh explains, “our brain tends to exaggerate negative experiences, which leads to the erroneous conclusion that bad luck in a queue is the rule, not a coincidence.”
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How to deal with frustration in a queue?
Psychologists advise to accept the randomness of the situation and not to treat a long wait as a personal failure. Distractions such as listening to music, talking to a companion, or focusing on your breathing may be helpful.
It is also important that after choosing a queue, you avoid comparing your pace with others. It is comparisons like these that lead to unnecessary frustration.
