The fading affect bias begins within 12 hours and persists for 3 months

Abstract

Research has shown that the tendency for emotional affect to fade more over time for unpleasant events than for pleasant events, known as the Fading Affect Bias (FAB), increased across 3-month, 9-month and 4.5-year intervals. The current study attempted to determine the temporal locus of the FAB using the data set by Walker et al. as well as two additional data sets. All three data sets showed that the FAB was present after 1 day and persisted for 3 months, even though the affective fading for initially pleasant events slightly increased over time. Moreover, the third data set showed that the FAB was present for events occurring on the test day. Although the results challenge traditional conceptions of the FAB as a healthy coping mechanism that takes place across long periods, they fit well with the Broaden and Build Theory of positive emotions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.