The study suggests that the familiar adage may really be true, with a caveat: time flies when we're having a goal-motivated fun.
Existing research demonstrates that experiencing positive feelings or states makes us feel like time is passing faster than negative feelings and states do.
But, as some researchers observe, not all positive states are created equal. Sometimes we experience feelings of contentment or serenity.
These feelings are certainly positive ones, but they aren't very high in what researchers call 'approach motivation' - they don't make us want to go out and pursue or achieve something.
Feelings of desire or excitement, on the other hand, are very high in approach motivation - desire and excitement motivate us to go forth and conquer.
Psychological scientists Philip Gable and Bryan Pool of the University of Alabama hypothesised that it's specifically those states that are high in approach motivation that make us feel like time is passing quickly.
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Participants were trained to tell the difference between pictures shown for a 'short' or a 'long' period of time. The participants then viewed pictures that were neutral that were positive but low in approach motivation, or that were positive and high in approach motivation.
The researchers also found that the perceived amount of time for the enticing pictures was related to when participants had eaten that day.
Those participants who had eaten recently judged the dessert pictures as having been displayed for longer periods of time than their hungrier peers.
"Although we tend to believe that time flies when we're having a good time, these studies indicate what it is about the enjoyable time that causes it to go by more quickly," said Gable.