Daily activity duration tolerance: a sensitivity analysis of emotional well-being to activity duration

This study introduces “Daily Activity Duration Tolerance” as the duration whereby affective well-being (i.e., happy, tired, stressed, sad, pain) deteriorates as a function of activity- and individual-level factors. A panel survival analysis is conducted on 9618 activity episodes performed by 353 residents of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area from October 17, 2016, to October 25, 2017. The analysis examines the responsiveness of affective well-being to activity duration and indicates that negative emotions are tolerated for longer activity duration than the positive emotion of happiness. The findings indicate that activity duration tolerance is shorter for primary activities of shopping, personal business, and eating out than education, work, and leisure. The findings also indicate participation in secondary activities (e.g., religion, caring, gardening), companionship (e.g., spouse, family, friend, coworkers), and satisfaction with the environment leads to tolerating longer activity durations. The results further show that the chance of happiness worsening is lower for African Americans with similar activity durations than individuals of other ethnic backgrounds, and they tolerate a longer activity duration before their happiness worsens. This knowledge is practical in devising policies that target maximizing positive emotions and minimizing negative emotions.