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.