You are more stressed at the FRONT of the queue, find scientists, who claim it’s because you feel guilty about all those people standing behind you
- People feel worse about being first if they feel they haven’t waited long enough
- If there are more people behind them, that negative feeling is magnified
- Scientists say our natural sense of fairness and awkwardness may be to blame
Famous for their national love of queueing, British people know it is all about getting to the front.
But successfully picking the shortest line at the supermarket may not bring the joy you might expect from beating others to the conveyor belt.
In fact the front of the queue is an unhappy place to be, and our natural sense of fairness and social awkwardness may be to blame.
A study has found people feel worse about being first in line if they don’t feel they have waited long enough. If there are more people behind them, that negative feeling is magnified.
Add in the social pressure to be as fast as possible so someone else can take their turn, and the whole experience is rather unpleasant.
Famous for our national love of queueing, British people know it is all about getting to the front. But successfully picking the shortest line at the supermarket may not bring the joy you might expect from beating others to the conveyor belt
German researchers carried out a series of experiments to test how people feel at the front of queues, finding people at a cash machine are less happy and more uncomfortable the more people are standing behind them.
In the supermarket, people show fewer positive emotions, such as smiling, making eye contact or saying thank you, if a long queue forms behind them and they have reached the front rather quickly themselves.
The authors suggest people who have waited a long time feel they have ‘earned the right’ to use a service for as long as they like.
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But getting to the front too fast can make people feel others are ‘breathing down their necks.’
The study authors, led by Dr Martin Dahm at RWTH Aachen University in Germany, state: ‘The data supported our basic premise that customers experience social pressure when queues form behind their backs, which in turn leads to a less positive customer experience.’
They add: ‘As soon as a customer reaches the head of the queue, the waiting time of the remaining customers is directly contingent on her behaviour.
WHAT ARE THE HACKS TO BEAT THE QUEUES?
Desmos, a U.S. organisation that promotes maths, technology and data, has spent months analysing supermarket data last year.
Their research revealed the best ways to beat the queues.
– Choose to be served by female cashiers: Experts suggest that female cashiers are faster
– Stand in queues that feed into several tills: These queues will get through customers quicker
– Opt for checkouts on the left: Most shoppers are right-handed and so choose to queue on the right
– Queue behind shoppers with a trolley: It can be quicker to stand behind one person with a trolley full of items instead of several shoppers with a basket as the face-to-face interaction time is quicker
‘Hence she may feel the need to complete her transaction as quickly as possible so as to comply with well-established social expectations, ultimately leading to the negative consequences documented in this research.’
When people are told they do not need to rush, being in a queue is not so bad, the researchers found.
They tested this on 128 people given time on a computer to do a task, some of whom were pressurised by a second person entering the room looking to use the computer.
When told they did not need to feel pressure to go quickly, people felt fewer negative emotions such as embarrassment and awkwardness.
But in general, a second finding in 46 people at an ATM found, people feel more negative emotions and fewer positive ones like happiness and calm when there are more people behind them.
This was measured by counting the people behind them in a queue, then going up to them afterwards to question them on their feelings.
A further experiment counted the people ahead of 93 people in a supermarket queue to judge how fast they got to the front.
When they got to the front fast, then had people behind them, these people showed fewer signs of happiness such as smiles or wishing the cashier a good day.
The study, published in the Journal of Retailing, concludes that this is down to pressure on the person ahead in the queue ‘to finish her transaction as quickly as possible’ and be efficient.
If someone waits longer, they may feel they have served their time, with the authors adding: ‘Hence, when reaching the front of the queue, she may believe that she has earned the right to use the service for as long as she wants and that she does not need to adhere to the efficiency norm to the full extent.’
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