region-beta paradox

Meaning

Proper Noun

• The phenomenon that people can sometimes recover more quickly from more intense emotions or pain than from less distressing experiences, tentatively attributed to the fact that only the more intense states trigger psychological defense processes.

Origin

• Named in reference to an illustration in the paper by Daniel Gilbert et al. that introduced the paradox. They consider a commuter who has the habit of walking to destinations within a mile of her origin, and cycling to more distant destinations. Since the bicycle is faster, the commuter will reach some distant locations more quickly than nearer destinations (region beta in their diagram), reversing the normal tendency to arrive later at more distant locations.