ArticleThe Journal of general psychology
What makes us busy? Predictors of perceived busyness across the adult lifespan.
Article in The Journal of general psychology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Why do we forget?-A mixed-method investigation of reasons for everyday prospective memory failures.Cognitive research: principles and implications · 2026Article
- Perceived busyness shapes assortment size preferences via distinct thinking styles.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Understanding the treatment journey and experiences of knee osteoarthritis patients receiving standard care in Singapore: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- The effect of perceived busyness on nostalgic consumption intention: based on compensatory control theory.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Improving vaccine communication to the often-overlooked young adult population: A qualitative study of 20-29 year olds in British Columbia, Canada.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Article
- An evaluation of the moderating effects of routine and busyness on the relationship between prospective memory and everyday functioning in older persons with HIV disease.Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology · 2024Article
- A Korean Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study Investigating Risk Factors, Prevalence, and Characteristics of Sarcopenia in Men in Early Old Age.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Individual differences in frequency and impact of daily memory lapses: results from a national lifespan sample.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- The acceptability of homebased exercise snacking and Tai-chi snacking amongst high and low function UK and Taiwanese older adults.Frontiers in aging · 2023Article
- Busyness, mental engagement, and stress: Relationships to neurocognitive aging and behavior.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Busier people tend to perform better on cognitive tasks than less busy individuals. Nevertheless, the characteristics that are associated with greater perceived busyness are unknown. To address this question participants (N = 463) from the Dallas Lifespan Brain Study (ages 20-89) completed a self-report busyness assessment and demographic, health, personality, and lifestyle measures. Results revealed that perceived busyness peaked in 30-year-olds, showed age-related decreases until age 60, and then remained stable. Moreover, women generally reported being busier than men. Analysis of age by gender interactions revealed that men exhibited a significant cubic age effect for busyness, whereas women did not. Overall, younger age, female gender, agreeableness, neuroticism, frequent participation in novel activities, and enjoyment of cognitive processing were independently associated with being busier, and the characteristics related to busyness were generally stable across age. Notably, participation in novel activities and need for cognition were the most predictive lifestyle characteristics, supporting the framing of busyness as an indicator of mental engagement. We also propose personality-based sources of self-generated and other-generated busyness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.