Feeling good at the right time: Why people value predictability in goal attainment

We investigate whether information on upcoming goal attainment spoils some of the benefits of attaining the goal, because people hold a script suggesting they should feel happy at the “right” time; that is, after the goal is attained. We find that people falsely recall sequences of events in a way that corresponds to a script of feeling happy upon goal attainment rather than upon learning that a goal will be attained (Study 1). The disruption of the goal-attainment script results in mellowed happiness and lower goal evaluation (Studies 2-4). We conclude that because of their expectation to feel happy only upon goal attainment, people experience mellowed positive emotion and goal evaluation when they learn that a goal will be attained. Reawakening positive emotion after having had early knowledge of goal attainment appears to be difficult.