<p>As shown in the Wikipedia section "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory#Memory_of_felt_emotion" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Memory of felt emotion</a>" there are <em>many</em> ways that recollected emotion is significantly different than experienced emotion. From the section:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Another study found that people's memories for how distressed they
  felt when they learned of the 9/11 terrorist attacks changed over time
  and moreover, were predicted by their current appraisals of the impact
  of the attacks (Levine et al., 2004). It appears that memories of past
  emotional responses are not always accurate, and can even be partially
  reconstructed based on their current appraisal of events. [45]</p>
  
  <p>Studies have shown that as episodic memory becomes less accessible
  over time, the reliance on semantic memory to remember past emotions
  increases. In one study Levine (2009)[47] primes of the cultural belief
  of women being more emotional than men had a greater effect on
  responses for older memories compared to new memories. The long term
  recall of emotions was more in line with the primed opinions, showing
  that long term recall of emotions was heavily influenced by current
  opinions.</p>
  
  <p>[45] Levine L.J. and Pizarro D.A. (2004) "Emotion and memory research:
  A grumpy overview" Social Cognition, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2004, pp.530-554</p>
  
  <p>[47] Levine; Lench, Heather; Safer, Martin (2009). "Functions of
  Remembering and Misremembering Emotion". Applied Cognitive Psychology.
  23: 1059–1075.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-24T04:05:16.707Z
By the way, the source of this idea is [this paper by Robinson & Clore (2002)](http://psycnet.apa.org/?fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0033-2909.128.6.934), which provides lots of elaboration (and is an incredibly important piece of literature for those using self-report to study affect/emotion)!
mrt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-23T12:50:24.583Z
2017-01-23T12:50:24.583Z
Seanny123
<p>When I participated in the study that led to "A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind" I answered questions on my phone that insisted that I answer as soon as I got the notification. This made me assume that there is a significant change in emotional perception as time passes, however I can't find any evidence of this. In other words, how is the experience of an emotion affected by the amount of time between it's experience and it's recollection? If this question is too broad, it can be narrowed down to pain and pleasure.</p>

<cognitive-psychology><emotion>
Effect of time on emotion self-perception
Seanny123
# Effect of time on emotion self-perception

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-01-23)

When I participated in the study that led to "A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind" I answered questions on my phone that insisted that I answer as soon as I got the notification. This made me assume that there is a significant change in emotional perception as time passes, however I can't find any evidence of this. In other words, how is the experience of an emotion affected by the amount of time between it's experience and it's recollection? If this question is too broad, it can be narrowed down to pain and pleasure.

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, emotion


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2017-01-23. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

As shown in the Wikipedia section "[Memory of felt emotion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory#Memory_of_felt_emotion)" there are *many* ways that recollected emotion is significantly different than experienced emotion. From the section:

> Another study found that people's memories for how distressed they
> felt when they learned of the 9/11 terrorist attacks changed over time
> and moreover, were predicted by their current appraisals of the impact
> of the attacks (Levine et al., 2004). It appears that memories of past
> emotional responses are not always accurate, and can even be partially
> reconstructed based on their current appraisal of events. [45]
>
> Studies have shown that as episodic memory becomes less accessible
> over time, the reliance on semantic memory to remember past emotions
> increases. In one study Levine (2009)[47] primes of the cultural belief
> of women being more emotional than men had a greater effect on
> responses for older memories compared to new memories. The long term
> recall of emotions was more in line with the primed opinions, showing
> that long term recall of emotions was heavily influenced by current
> opinions.
>
> [45] Levine L.J. and Pizarro D.A. (2004) "Emotion and memory research:
> A grumpy overview" Social Cognition, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2004, pp.530-554
>
> [47] Levine; Lench, Heather; Safer, Martin (2009). "Functions of
> Remembering and Misremembering Emotion". Applied Cognitive Psychology.
> 23: 1059–1075.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: By the way, the source of this idea is [this paper by Robinson & Clore (2002)](http://psycnet.apa.org/?fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/0033-2909.128.6.934), which provides lots of elaboration (and is an incredibly important piece of literature for those using self-report to study affect/emotion)!  

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